


Kim Shimmers and the Diviner's Curse

by KFrancesAuthorExtraordinaire



Series: The Kim Shimmers Series [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Canon, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Coming of Age, Divination, F/M, First Crush, First Love, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Inter-House Relationships, Ravenclaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-04-25 20:18:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 97,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4975108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KFrancesAuthorExtraordinaire/pseuds/KFrancesAuthorExtraordinaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the sequel to "Kim Shimmers and the Screech Owl," Kim returns to Hogwarts, but the excitement to see her friends comes mixed with a feeling of foreboding unease. Her suspicious feelings of the school year are confirmed when Harry's name is pulled to compete in the Triwizard tournament. Kim focuses her studies on improving her gift at Divination to help Harry with his daunting tasks, but it becomes more than she can withstand when her visions become darker and more vivid.<br/>And with the stress of helping Harry on her shoulders, the last thing Kim wants to concern herself with are boys and dances, but with the Yule Ball near at hand and her friends finding dates, Kim can't help but want for someone to ask her. She can't help wondering if friends could be more than friends...<br/><img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Quidditch World Cup

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE ABOUT CONTENT: This story is taking place during the time of Harry's 4th year and contains some scenes from Goblet of Fire (though usually quite altered because they are from Kim's POV) However, in these scenes there are some instances of direct quotes used for character dialogue. I did this when Kim's actions wouldn't reasonably change the other characters' dialogue, but she would need to be present for something that was said. I did this to maintain the feelings that the characters ARE JK's character's in how they speak and act, and I kind of hope readers will even notice the quotes, if they're a super avid HP fan ;)  
> Furthermore, none of this content could in any way exist without the majestic JK Rowling, trumpets sound in the distance, drum rolls, we all applaud.

Chapter 1

Quidditch World Cup

   “I don’t understand what’s so wrong about _regular_ mail,” Kim’s mother reasoned. Mrs. Shimmer’s was being genuine, she really didn’t know, and Kim didn’t know how to begin explaining to a muggle the many reasons why she couldn’t use regular mail to talk to her friends. She also couldn’t use her owl, Strix, because she was just too tiny to make it across the Atlantic Ocean.

   Kim sighed heavily, draping her arm over the back of the kitchen chair she sat in as she turned to face her mother. “Because, Mom. For one thing, it’s expensive and impractical.”

   “Okay, but you can’t use your owl so—”

   “For another thing, I don’t know Fred and George’s address. I don’t even know how I would find that out. And I have no idea if the mail man would even know where to go. I mean, do they have a mailbox? Probably not!”

   “If you don’t know their address, how does the owl know where to take it?” her mother asked after a short pause.

   “ _Magic,”_ Kim said, with ample attitude. “Honestly woman, _that’s_ the part about owl mail that surprises you. It’s an owl, delivering mail, they can’t read an address anyway, what good would it do them?”

   She chuckled a bit at this miniature rant, turning back to the bulky manila computer that sat on her desk to clack away on the keys. Kim, in turn, went back to her breakfast. As much as she’d given her mother lip about the obvious reasons why muggle mail was out of the question for contacting Fred and George, she was sorry about the truth to it. She wished she had a way to send _them_ mail but she had told them before they left for summer holiday that they would have to send her mail first, with their family owl Errol. They had expressed some concern about whether or not the elderly bird would survive such a journey, but then had assured her it would be fine. But, as of yet, no such letter had arrived, and the summer was already more than halfway over now that it was mid-August. Kim wondered if maybe the bird _had_ died on its way to her…

   Unfortunately, she found it more likely the twins had gone back on their word to her to write over the summer. They weren’t very good at keeping in touch, as Kim was starting to learn. She was trying not to take this personally, but she was having a hard time. She probably would have spent much longer dwelling on these thoughts, pushing her last bits of egg around her plate, had Retta not come through the side door and tromped into the kitchen.

   Strix flew out of her cage which was handing, open of course, over the kitchen sink and by the cracked window. She made a fast and spirited loop around Retta’s head before darting back to Kim and landing on her head, as if she knew that Retta’s appearance meant it was time to go.

   Retta had crouched inwardly a bit at the bird’s forward dash, bringing her hands up around her face and furrowing her brow. “That bird, Kim,” she said.

   “What?” Kim asked lightly, Strix still plopped directly on her head. Her claws scratched a bit, but they didn’t really hurt.

   Retta just laughed as she relaxed, taking in the sight of Kim as she stood, jostling Strix and making her relocate to her shoulder.

   “Where are you two off to?” Mrs. Shimmer’s asked.

   “Just a walk. We’ll be back soon probably,” Kim answered, following Retta toward the side door. It was miserably hot outside, and while Kim’s house wasn’t much nicer, it was at least shaded. For this reason, she hadn’t been entirely enthused about the idea of a walk, but Retta had insisted, as always. What Kim _really_ wanted was to go somewhere with AC, like Retta’s house, but Retta didn’t want that. In fact, she pretty much always wanted to be anywhere that wasn’t her house…

   “So, what happened?” Kim asked, because Retta wasn’t talking yet, which made Kim think her parents or her sister had done something upsetting. That would also explain her insistence on a walk.

   Retta shrugged and heaved a sigh. “Normal shit. Mom keeps forgetting to take me school shopping, even though I’ve asked 100 times. And Eliza hid more drugs in my room. Found them this morning.”

   “Did you tell your parents?”

   “Yeah,” she said in a high voice, as if this was the only obvious choice. Kim couldn’t blame her since it _was_ the only obvious choice, but Kim was just checking. It wasn’t as if her parents were going to do anything about it anyway, but it was at least better than letting Eliza have them.

   “They yelled at her all morning… not that it’ll matter,” Retta said, mirroring Kim’s thoughts. It was quite for a moment as they walked down the street absently.

   “What’s going on at the Baker’s house?” Kim asked, directing her gaze to one of the neighborhood houses off the street. It was a modest two story house, with a two door garage and white molding around the windows.

   “Oh, they must be having a garage sale,” Retta said, following Kim’s gaze to the cardboard sign and the gathering of furniture and boxes filled with old lamps, toys, and other odds and ends. “Let’s go say hi.”

   Kim followed, seeing Mrs. Baker sitting beside her husband talking to another one of the neighbors. Kim averted her eyes as Mrs. Baker started coughing rather fitfully, apologizing. She had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It was very serious, or so Kim had heard from the local gossip. Kim let her eyes fall over the assorted oddities until they had reached the Bakers.

   “Hi Mrs. Baker, having a yard sale?” Retta asked cheerfully.

   “Oh, hello Retta,” she said with a pleasant, neighborly smile. “We are, you should let your mother know.”

   “I will. She’ll probably want to come have a look for something she can fix up,” Retta mussed, looking over the wares. “So uh… how have you been feeling?”

   Kim marveled at how Retta could just _ask_ this question of a relative stranger, and an adult. But then again, Kim supposed Retta knew all the neighbors much better than Kim. Retta’s parents, while not so great in the parenting department, _were_ great in the dinner party hosting department. Kim’s Mom tended to keep to herself, and her Dad didn’t live in this neighborhood anymore, since the divorce.

    “I’m uh- all right,” Mrs. Baker said with a tight smile, looking up at her husband who stood next to her. He put a supportive hand on her back. From the small nuances in her expression, Mrs. Baker was _not_ alright.

   “Well that’s good. Hope you keep doing well,” Retta said lightly, either not noticing the signs that Mrs. Baker was politely lying, or politely ignoring them.

   Just then, Strix flapped off Kim’s shoulder, and Kim let her, thinking she was probably off to do some hunting. Instead, she darting forward to where Mrs. Baker was sitting in her chair and fluttered around her head. Mrs. Baker recoiled, startled, throwing up her hands. Strix lunged fast as ever and then swiftly arced back up in a graceful swoop.

   “Strix no!” Kim called, horror rising in her stomach as she realized what was happening. _Not again, oh god not now, and_ not _Mrs. Baker!_ But it was too late. When Strix decided to act up, she had made up her mind, and it was done before Kim could even realize. Mrs. Baker had a thin red line across her hand where Strix had cut her.

   “I’m _so_ sorry Mrs. Baker,” Kim said with deep apology oozing into every word. She heavily regretted following Retta over here, she should have just stayed on the road. Retta was swearing under her breath about Stirx, and Mr. Baker was crouching down to look at his wife’s hand.

   “It cut you,” he said with surprise in his tone, and a little anger. Mrs. Baker was just looking at the cut with a mix of shock and something else. Her fingers were trembling and her eyes… was she afraid? Certainly shaken, but afraid? It was just a small cut, and just a small owl after all.

   “I-I really am sorry, I—

   “You shouldn’t have wild animals as pets,” Mr. Baker snapped, shooting a glair up at Kim. Her tongue tied immediately.

   “It’s okay, Jim,” Mrs. Baker breathed, and Kim swore she detected the faint and fading sounds of a shudder in her tone. She looked up and clasped her hand with the other.

   “She doesn’t,” Kim began feebly. “Well, usually…”

   “It’s all right,” Mrs. Baker was still saying, getting up and heading back into her house, presumably to clean and bandage the wound.

   “That bird’s not ill, is it?” Mr. Baker asked.

   “What? N-No! No, she’s not. And I’m sure the cut won’t do any harm other than, well…” Kim started to say. She wanted to say that she knew the cut wouldn’t do any harm because she had a friend that had been cut by Strix loads of times, but she also didn’t want to admit that her pet had a malicious side that liked to come out at totally unpredictable moments.

   “Alright well, I’m going to go inside for now, you girls better run along,” he said, not as angry anymore. He just sounded wary. Tired. Kim felt terrible, but she was relieved to be exiting the entire situation. She nodded and she and Retta scurried from the yard back to the street.

   “What was up with that?” Retta asked.

   “I don’t know!” Kim said in a high tone. She looked at Strix on her shoulder. “Why do you _do_ that? What’s gotten in to you?” Strix just looked up innocently.

   “I mean, what do you expect Kim, it’s an owl,” Retta laughed, but there was judgment in her tone. “They’re not really meant to be pets, you know what I mean?”

   Kim felt a burning in her ears. It was a familiar feeling. It was the feeling of displacement, of not belonging here in the muggle world and simply wanting to go back to a place where everyone would understand, and no one would ask her stupid questions. And no one would try and tell her owls weren’t meant to be pets.

   “She’s supposed to be well trained,” Kim muttered, staring down at the road ahead. She caught a glimpse of Retta opening her eyes wide in a brief flash, as if thinking _she doesn’t seem trained,_ but choosing not to say anything. They were almost back to Kim’s house by now, so they walked the short distance in silence.

   As they approached the side door, Kim saw something through the glass. It was a large, brown owl with feathers slightly askew, sitting in Strix’s too small cage. Kim’s eyes went wide as she realized with a leap of excitement; _Errol._ Then she quickly realized that Retta would be highly suspicions of things if she discovered _another_ owl in Kim’s kitchen.

   “Um!” she said, turning on Retta before she could go into the house. She looked up at Kim suddenly and frowned.

   “What?” she asked after a long pause passed, during which Kim scrambled for a reason to tell her she couldn’t come in.

   “Uh… You know, I just remembered that Mom asked me to help with some chores today. And you know how she is… if I try to put them off she’ll be really mad. And if you’re here she’ll try to make you join in.”

   Retta collapsed her shoulders and groaned, glaring off at the bushes. “Fine, I don’t mind helping.”

   “What?” Kim asked, eyes getting a bit wide. She hadn’t realized how desperate Retta wanted to get away from her house. She should have, it was a stupid oversight. Hadn’t she been talking about it all morning? And it wasn’t like it was uncommon for Retta to escape into Kim’s house for a day or two at a time, even if it meant picking up sticks in the yard or caring creates to and from the attic.

   “I don’t mind helping,” Retta said with a shrug. “It’ll get done faster if I’m here, and I _don’t_ want to go home.”

   Well, Kim certainly couldn’t force her to go home now. She let out an unsteady breath. “Alright,” she forfeited, and opened the door for Retta, “just giving you fair warning.”

   Retta walked into the kitchen and spotted the owl immediately. “Uh, why is there another owl in your kitchen?” she asked with a hint of laughter in her voice at the sheer oddity of it. Well, the oddity for _her_ anyway.

   “Uh…” Kim’s mom said, turning from her computer and looking from Retta to Kim with a frown. It was clear she didn’t know what to say to this anymore than Kim did.

   “Yeah, me and Mom are volunteering at the local owlery,” Kim said. It sounded totally absurd, as if there would be an _owlery_ in or anywhere near Cary, North Carolina.

   “The owlery?” Retta asked, sounding either surprised or disbelieving, Kim wasn’t quite sure.

   “Yep, we take in birds from time to time, feed ‘em, watch ‘em… then give ‘em back,” she said with a casual shrug, as if it was the most normal muggle thing in the world.

   “Oh,” Retta said lightly. “Well, that’s kind of cool. Is that were you got Strix?”

   “Yep. This one’s Errol. Speaking of which, Mom, did anything come for me in the _mail_?”

   “What? Oh, uh- yep,” she said, realizing that Kim was actually asking for the letter that Errol had no doubt been carrying. Kim’s hart did another leap as her mother reached for a folded piece of paper on the table and handed it to Kim.

   “Who’s that from?” Retta asked, nosily.

   “Boring stuff, school stuff,” Kim answered quickly. She knew she should wait to read the letter for when Retta wasn’t around as to not risk her being nosier about it, but Kim simply couldn’t wait. Retta was still eyeing her across the kitchen table, so Kim took the opportunity to hastily unfold the paper and scan over the words before Retta could decide to come around the kitchen and read over Kim’s shoulder.

_Hey Kim! Haven’t written you yet this summer- sorry about that. Anyway, got good news to make it up to you. Dad got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup! We asked him if he could get an extra ticket for you, and he said if you can pay for it, he can procure it. I know it’s a far way from the US, but it’ll be more than worth it! Fred also says be their or be square. I say, hope you can come. Let us know soon. And when I say soon, I mean really soon._

_\--George_

   Kim drew in a long breath, trying to calm her heart and look as if she was really just reading over ‘boring school stuff’. She looked up at Retta, who was starting to look suspicious.

   “List of supplies I’ll need,” Kim explained, lifting the letter as she folded it and put it under a book on the kitchen table. She then led Retta from the kitchen so they could poor over magazines in Kim’s room. But she could only think of later when Retta would finally leave and Kim would be able ask her mother for permission to go to the Quidditch World Cup.

   That time finally came later that night after dinner. Retta left, and Mrs. Shimmers was loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher.

   “So, Mom,” Kim began tentatively. She was so excited she could barely speak, but she was also nervous. This was a big deal. Convincing her mom to go off to boarding school had been difficult, then boarding school _in Scotland-_ almost impossible. But these kinds of things in particular were the sort of things Mrs. Shimmers despised even more than the idea of boarding school in forging countries. Kim off with friends, festivities, parents she didn’t know, far away from any possibility of Mrs. Shimmers intervening if she needed to. It was going to be near impossible to convince her to let Kim go, but she had to try.

   “Yes?” her mother prompted, because Kim had been quite for a moment or two longer than she should’ve.

   “Um, that letter I got earlier today… know what it was about?”

   “…No…”

   “Well… It was an invitation…”

   “Spit it out, Kim,” she said sternly, already surmising she was about to be asked something she wasn’t going to like.

   “Fred and George, the friends I’ve been telling you all about? They finally wrote, and they’ve invited me to come to the Quidditch World Cup.”

   “What’s that?” she asked with a squint.

   “It’s a sporting event. A _big_ sporting event, like the super bowl, only _bigger_ because it’s international.”

   At this her mother’s brow raised unpleasantly. “If it’s like the super bowl, I don’t think you should be going.”

   “Well- I don’t know if it’s like the super bowl like that, I just meant it’s-… What I mean is, I don’t really know what it’s _like,_ as in what it’s like to be there, because I’ve never _been._ It’s probably totally different, I mean it’s a wizarding event so…” Kim tried to reason, but her words were coming out too fast.

   Mrs. Shimmers put her hands on her hips. “Where is it?”

   “In England? I would go to Fred and George’s house first I think and then we’d—

   “And spend the night?” she interrupted.

   Kim’s expression fell. This was the part where her plans got totally shattered. “Well, yeah… There parent’s will be there, we won’t be, like, _alone_.”

   “Aren’t they older?” Kim just shrugged, because what did _that_ have anything to do with it. “I don’t think so,” her mother continued, not really waiting for a response. “It’s too far, I don’t want you going back so early—”

   “But Mom!”

   “No, Kim. I don’t want you going back early, and I don’t know these people. You know, I let you stay with Brit because I know her. I trust her. But I’m not comfortable with you going all the way to a stranger’s houses and staying the night with boys you just met—”

   “I didn’t just meet them!”

   “Look, none of that is relevant. The fact of the matter is, _I_ don’t want you leaving early for school. You only get a few months out of the year to spend here with you family, okay, and you’re going to stay here and spend it with us.”

   Kim shrunk, crestfallen. It wasn’t that she _hated_ being around her family. It was just that she’d so much rather be at the Quidditch World Cup with Fred and George.

   “But what if I come back after—”

   “No Kim. Seriously, don’t mention it again, the answer is no.” And that was finial. Kim knew when her mother got it in her head that something was going to go a certain way, there was no changing her mind. That was it. She _wouldn’t_ be going to the Quidditch World Cup, and she wouldn’t be seeing her friends again until the school year began again in September. Kim went off to sulk for the rest of the night.


	2. Bellhop

Chapter 2

Bellhop

   Kim sulked quite a lot over the next week, bitter and downtrodden that she wouldn’t be going to visit Fred and George. She’d had an odd dream that she was fairly certain was another premonition, and after some deliberation, she decided to include it in her letter to Fred and George. She wrote back, and after letting Errol rest up for a few days to regain his strength, she attached the letter to him and sent him off.

_Thanks for inviting me guys. Really, I would have loved to come. But, my Mom is being really, really, really awful. She won’t let me leave early for the summer. So I guess I won’t see you two until the school year starts. Hope to see you on the train in? I’ll save you a seat if I don’t see you on the platform._

_Have fun at the game,_

_Kim_

_P.S. Tell Percy he’s looking splendidly toadish today for me_

_P.P.S. I know you don’t really know this about me, but I practice divination. Maybe this sounds crazy but I had a dream that I think might give away who wins the Quidditch World Cup. I wasn’t sure if you would be angry or not about finding out the winner ahead of time. I’m not even sure if this was actually a premonition or just a dream, but if it is a premonition I wanted to prove I actually saw it ahead of time… so I wrote the dream on the back of this letter just in case it was. Don’t read it unless you don’t mind having the game spoiled for you._

   On the back of the letter she wrote the rest.

_In the dream, I’m sitting at my aunt’s kitchen table. There’s a newspaper on it, and the heading says this: “Quidditch World Cup Takes Unexpected Turn; Ireland Wins by Krum Catching Snitch.” I’m not really sure what that means, or if those are teams that are even playing… but I guess we’ll see._

   As the date of the Quidditch World Cup came and went, Kim attempted not to be sullen or sour with her mother, though both were very difficult. She mostly spent the time cooped up in her room, pouring over divination and magical creature books she’d brought home with her. She’d already finished all of her homework for the summer though, so she didn’t even have that to occupy her mind.

   Kim was having just such an evening, laying across her bed with her feet up in the air, fan blowing in the window to help cool her. She had to keep her thumb over the edge of _Deeper into the Mind; Heptomology’s Most Profound Uses_ to keep the pages from flapping up in the wind. The door to her room flew open, and she already knew who it was before she looked up.

   Retta sighed heavily and flopped onto the bed as she huffed, “Hey dude.”

   “Hey.”

   “So my parents were just over at the Baker’s… bad news.”

   “What?” Kim asked, sitting up and closing her book. She recalled running into the Baker’s the other day with Retta, the unpleasant experience with the yard sale and Strix…

   “Mrs. Baker’s dead…”

   The room was quite for a long, pregnant moment in which the whirring of the fan became as loud as a twister.

   “ _What_?” Kim said, disbelieving. Like maybe she just misheard.

   “Yeah. She’s dead, her funeral was just the other day.”

   Again, silence. “Oh my god… I can’t _believe_ that. We just saw her!”

   “I know… You know how she’s been sick for a long time. I mean it’s been years. I guess it finally just caught up with her.”

   Kim really didn’t know anything at all about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, but from what she’d overheard during adult conversations, it was a nasty thing. Kim wasn’t even sure what that meant, though. To her those had always just been words adults used to explain things. She supposed it meant it was something that would kill you, like cancer. Kim did know a little bit about cancer. She’d had two sisters once. Danni, her younger sister, and Fran who had been much, much older. But that was an old wound, or a scar of sorts now, she supposed.

   “Poor Mr. Baker… I feel so _terrible,_ ” Kim said, laying back on the bed beside Retta, who didn’t seem like she was going to say anything in response. “Think of the last time we saw Mrs. Baker. Remember what happened?”

   “Right,” Retta said, remembering. “That’s…”

   Kim groaned, covering her face. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I wasn’t close to her or anything, but I just can’t help but feel so weird that her last memory of me, and my last memory of her is Strix being stupid and attacking her like a maniac.”

   “Don’t worry,” Retta said, sounding like she was trying very hard to be supportive. “With everything that was going on in her life at the time… I’m sure getting attacked by an owl was… I don’t know probably a highlight compared to everything else.”

   Kim found this to be oddly insightful coming from Retta, if not darkly humorous.

   “Yeah. I guess you’re right,” Kim said. “I guess that explains why she, and Mr. Baker were kind of acting weird. I mean… aside the fact that my owl attacked her.”

   She gave a tight smile. Was it wrong to smile about it? As she’d said, she hadn’t known Mrs. Baker well, but she’d been a nice lady from what Kim did know. She supposed, since life had to go on, the only thing to do _was_ to smile about it.

* * *

   Kim and Mrs. Shimmers sat around the kitchen table. Kim’s father had just left from visiting for the last time before Kim went off to England to stay with Aunt Brit for a few days, and then depart for Hogwarts. Kim’s parent’s had divorced when she was 9, but keeping in contact with her father had gotten considerably harder when she went away to Lemmonforth. After all, they lived in different places so she had more than one person to write, and more than one owl to send out. It was a lot of effort for an 11 year old, but Kim had still managed it for the past three years.

   “So, how exactly is she going to show up?” Mrs. Shimmer’s asked for the second time.

   “I told you, I haven’t got any idea,” Kim said with a shrug. They were waiting for Aunt Brit who had insisted that she come and get Kim this time instead of ‘wasting so much time and money on a useless form of transportation such as plain travel’.

   Kim’s mom snickered, shaking her head. “I mean, how many options are there?”

   “Honestly? I don’t know. Probably more than I’ve been made aware.”

   Mrs. Shimmers was still shaking her head and smiling faintly when she said, “You definitely sound British.”

   Kim pursed her lips. “No one says _British_ mom. You mean English. And I do not.” Her mother had been commenting on Kim’s apparently odd turns of phrases all summer. She herself didn’t notice it at first, but since it had been pointed out, she realized what her mother meant. She had picked up a few expressions since being abroad for a year, perhaps even the faintest of accents when she said certain words, she couldn’t deny it. Well, she _could_ deny it, even if it was true, and she would do so, simply to refuse her mother the pleasure of victory.

   This time, Mrs. Shimmers elected not to bother arguing and to simply continuing shaking her head lightly. That was soon interrupted however, by the sudden sound of three sharp bangs. Kim frowned and perked up in her seat, pointing her ears in the direction of the sound. It had come from farther within the house, perhaps the hall or upstairs. Then it sounded again, three muffled but clearly audible bangs. This time they were spaced farther apart and sharper, as if to imply persistence and yet, impatience.

   “Aunt Brit?” Kim muttered in bewilderment as she stood, her mother following with the same expression. She went into the hallway and stood, listening to the silence. Danni came out from the living room, looking a bit confused.

   “Did you hear that—”

   “Sh,” Kim said, holding up a hand and screwing up her face. Again, the nocking sounded, faster and clearly impatient this time, and quite a few more than three. Standing in the hall, Kim could tell they were closer to the sound, so she followed it with cautious steps. She came to stand before the door that led into her basement. It was clearly coming from behind this door, a rapping on the notched wooden surface, somewhere on the other side. Kim frowned at her mother, who also looked utterly confused, if not slightly spooked.

   “Open up!” came a muted voice that made Kim gasp and jump. But once the initial hart thundering start was over she realized she recognized the voice. She wrenched open the door to reveal Aunt Brit with her fist upraised, poised to continue knocking, and her knuckles a bit pink. The fact that Aunt Brit was coming out of the otherwise closed off basement was much less disconcerting than the fact that nothing about the basement looked _right._

   Kim had lived in this house since she was just a toddler. She didn’t go down in the basement often since it was nothing but concrete and unfinished walls. But she _did_ know what the stairwell looked like by heart, she would certainly recognize it on the other side of the basement door _if_ that was in fact what she was faced with now. But it was not. Her aunt seemed to be standing in what looked like a homely living room, with a sofa behind her to the right and a black and white photograph of a woman hanging on the wall that blinked and fluffed her hair as Kim stared.

   “There you are! See, all’s in order,” Brit said, this last bit directed over her shoulder to another woman whom Kim had only just noticed. She was standing next to Aunt Brit a bit back from the doorway. She had what appeared to be a uniform of sorts on, with maroon trousers and a matching coat with brass buttons down the front in two lines. She had her hair pulled back into a tight clean bun, and had a clipboard in her hand.

   “Right,” the woman said, peering up at Kim. “Ma‘am, are you a witch?”

   “Uh, yes?”

   “Present your wand please?” the woman continued, a hint of exasperation in her otherwise business tone.

   “Just let her see your wand, Kim,” Brit explained in a calming voice. Kim moved to her bags that were just a few steps down the hall. With the motion she caught a glimpse of her mother and sister who had stayed a few feet back and were watching, wide eyed. Kim drew out her wand and returned to the doorframe, presenting it. The woman gave it a quick glance, scribbled something down on her clipboard and then turned it over to face Kim.

   “Sign at the bottom please,” she said. Kim took the clip board, and the quill and signed beside and X after throwing a guarded expression at Aunt Brit who maintained her passive smile. The moment she had finished the swirl of the last S in Shimmers, the quill was flying out of her hand, quite magically, as well as the clipboard, and rolling up into thin air before they disappeared.

   “Right,” the woman said, nodding at Kim and then looking to Aunt Brit. “All seems clear then Ma’am. Shall we enter and begin paperwork for the Permanent Two-Way Bellhop Transportation Door now?”

   “Yes, let’s please,” Aunt Brit said, hastily stepping through the doorway and into the hall. The woman followed and closed the door behind them.

   “The in between gives me the willies,” Aunt Brit muttered as the door closed and she turned fully to face Kim and her family. She cleared her throat. “Well, I know this is probably not at all what you were expecting, Janey.”

   Mrs. Shimmers gave an elaborate shrug while shaking her head and smiling tightly. “No,” she said. “No, I can honestly say this was _not_ what I was expecting.”

   “Well, it was meant to be the front door, but…” she shot a sideways glance at the woman in the uniform. “Anyway, I figure it’s a good thing for you to be surprised by magic from time to time now that you have a witch for a daughter. Magic does tend to be surprising.”

   Mrs. Shimmers just gave a defeated sigh. “All right, well… what’s going on?” she asked.

   “Right,” the uniformed woman said, holding up a finger and looking around. “Allow me. I work for the Bellhop’s Transport Service. Or, more commonly referred to as simply the Bellhops. We at the Bellhops are dedicated to precise and convenient transportation for every witch and wizard in America. We even offer international services to American residence for traveling abroad to major cities or well-known wizarding locations. It’s quite advanced, and I think you’ll find, quite worth the investment.”

   “D-don’t worry about the investment, Jane, I’ve got that covered,” said Brit.

   Mrs. Shimmers was still looking as if she hadn’t the slightest idea what was going on. And Kim wasn’t all that much better.

   “Right, well if the arrangement has already been decided then, should we simply begin selecting a door?”

   “Selecting a door for what?” Kim asked.

   “To be your Permanent Two-Way Bellhop Transportation Door. We at Bellhop offer a range of transportation services. This includes the one way package, simply choose a pre-approved doorway to travel. The two way package, with witch our carrier will be waiting for your return once you are finished with your travels. The free-ranged service, in which you may travel to any doorway, even if it is not on the pre-approved list of doorways, as long as said doorway is belonged to the traveler, or the traveler is invited into said doorway by the owner. The finial, and most inclusive of our services is the Permanent Transportation branch. With these types of services, a permanent link between doorways can be established and unlocked by pre-agreed password, or spell requirement.”

   “We’ll be needed a password since she’s underage. Perhaps a knocking sequence?” Aunt Brit asked. Kim was still blinking and trying to process the utter spew of information that had just poured out of the tightly wound woman’s mouth.

   “Yes, certainly. Now, for door selection.”

   “Janey, I know this is probably a bit crazy sounding, but I thought you would be okay with it once I explained it- and I think it _is_ best that I explain,” Aunt Brit said, shooting the Bellhop a cautious look as if she were going to burst into a lengthy explanation again, which Kim didn’t doubt.

   “I figured that the flight between here and England is a nightmare, and really it’s unnecessary. Kim’s a witch. She can’t use magic outside of school, but there’s still plenty of ways for a witch to get around. This is just the easiest to get across such a long distance. Once we go through with this, whatever door you choose will become a sort of passageway that Kim can use to get to and from my London home. The passageway will be activated by a series of knocks, so there’s no chance of accidentally turning on the link when you don’t mean to. This way, Kim can come and go whenever she needs, and you won’t ever had to worry about buying another plane ticket.”

   It was quite for a moment as Kim’s mother digested all of this. “Wow…” she said, looking from Aunt Brit to the Bellhop. “Well, I guess that would be convenient.”

   Kim let out a noise with air, “Pft, _yeah_ it would! Where are we putting the door?”

   “I don’t care,” her mom said. “How about the basement door, since we’re all standing here. We barely ever use it anyway.”

   “Very good,” said the Bellhop, sliding a wand out of her back pocket. She waved it gently and then slid it in a line across the air. A piece of paper and a clipboard began to tumble out of the wand, followed by a quill, all falling into her open arm. Pocketing her wand she drew up her quill again and began scribbling on the new contract.

   After a moment of this she thrust the clipboard at Kim, along with the quill. “I’ll need you to sign this, since you’re the resident witch,” she said, pulling out her wand again and striding past Kim toward the basement door.

   Kim looked up from the complex contract with boxed off sections of ‘sign here’ and ‘check here’ to give a wary look toward her mother, and then Aunt Brit.

   “It just states that you’re aware a transportation doorway is being set up into your home to connect you with my home in London,” Brit said, coming to Kim’s side. “See, that’s my address here. So sign there. And this part here, that’s just telling you that no muggles are permitted to use this door under any circumstances, you know… Jane, you understand that.”

   Mrs. Shimmers was still looking a bit struck by all this, but she nodded slowly all the same.

   “Yes, so just sign there,” Brit continued. “Oh and this part here…” This continued until Kim had signed, dated, and checked all the boxes she needed. While that was underway, the Bellhop was waving her wand and muttering incantations over the door to the basement. Sparkling layers of green shimmered out of her wand and cloaked the door before they glittered out of existence. By the time Kim was finished with the signing and the clipboard had spun up inside itself again, the woman seemed like she was just finishing up.

   She looked at Kim and then to the door. She reached out her knuckles and gave two distinct wraps on the top left section of the door that had the typical four panel design on it. She moved her fist to the panel in the bottom left and gave one knock, and then finished with one finial knock placed between the top and bottom panels on the right side.

   “That’s the unlocking mechanism. Did you get that?” the woman asked. Kim just swallowed, because she wasn’t sure she’d got it but she didn’t really want to ask for it to be repeated. Luckily the woman was repeating it already anyway. Two in top left, bottom left, between top and bottom right.

   “Got it,” Kim said after this second demonstration.

   “Good. If you do this series of knocks, the door will not open into the basement, it will open to the transportation destination. If you do this series of knocks and then change your mind about traveling, you can repeat the same sequence and reset the door to its regular state, like I just did.” She opened the door as demonstration. True enough, the wooden railing into the dark basement was visible, along with a bag of potato’s hanging by the vacuum. The woman shut the door again.

   “Any questions?” she asked. Kim just looked a bit wide eyed at her, and then to her Aunt. “Right,” she continued when no one gave a response, and then said to Aunt Brit, “shall we charge the account we have on file for you, or would you like to select a different method of payment?”

   “No, the account on file is fine.”

   “Right. Well, then I believe that precludes any further prolonging of this transaction. Unless there are any last questions?” Again, no one answered. “Splendid. Thank you for choosing the Bellhop’s Transport Service for all your transportation needs, be it local, cross continental, or international.”

   She gave a winning smile and with a flick of her wand pointed at the ground behind her, unfurled a long piece of wood across the floor, much like a door sill that runs between a doorframe on the floor. Out of the sill came a protruding piece of wood that ran the full length of the sill, rising steadily upward. It soon became clear that it was a door, complete with brass knob and all.

   “We hope to continue to have your business in the future, and we are sure you will be satisfied with your Bellhop experience. Have a nice day,” she said, her grin widening to an almost crazed looking length. She then turned, the door having reached its full height right as she finished her speech as if it were all choreographed. Kim was sure that it was. The Bellhop opened the door, which led into an office like area, with other people dressed in the same uniform moving about or sitting at desks with filing cabinets stacked around them. Kim only got a seconds glance because the woman quickly shut the door behind her. It immediately began to descend back into the sill from which it had come.

   “Well, that was an experience, wasn’t it?” Aunt Brit said after a moment’s quite. She looked between Kim who was still watching the door sink away, and Mrs. Shimmer’s who was just staring wide eyed at nothing.

   “Don’t worry Jane, you’ll get used to all this eventually,” she said. “Kim, are you all packed and ready to go?” she asked.

   Kim pulled her gaze from the door as it vanished and the sill dissipated into non-existence just like it had appeared. “Um, yeah I am. Let me just grab my things.”

   She picked up her bags and made sure Strix was secure on her shoulder before lining herself up beside Aunt Brit in front of the basement door.

   “And you have all your books?” Mrs. Simmers asked.

   “Yes, Mom.”

   “And you have all your supplies and clot-“

   “Yes, Mom, I have everything. And don’t worry,” she said, jutting her head at the door. “If I’ve forgotten something I can just come back.”

   Her mother gave a somewhat bothered glance at the door. “Yes, well… just call first, alright?”

   Kim chuckled. “I will.”

   “You remember the knock sequence?” Brit asked.

   Kim reached out her hand and did the knocks, twice top left, once bottom left, once between top and bottom right. She glanced up at Brit who gave her an encouraging nod before clasping the handle and opening the door. It was even more disorienting that it had been when she’d opened the door to find Aunt Brit standing in a living room that didn’t belong where it was, attached to the basement door. Kim was now looking into what she knew to be the front door of Brit’s London home. She blinked and smiled at the weirdness of it, knowing also that she _should_ be standing on the front porch beside dying plants. She _should_ look right and see a row of similar small buildings with little moving whimsy’s decorating the front lawn, and fairies darting around the flower bushes and grooming themselves. Instead she was miles away, standing in her mother’s hallway.

   She shook her head and looked to her mother, giving her a hug. She gave her sister one too, saying, “I’ll see you at Christmas. And I’ll write,” to both of them.

   “Have a good school year. Study hard and all that,” her mother said, waving as she walked through the doorway and into Aunt Brit’s living room. Aunt Brit followed, saying a few words of goodbye behind her back before shutting the door. Kim looked at it almost suspiciously behind her. It seemed alien to imagine that her mother and sister had just been behind there. It was hard to fight the urge to open it up once more to check and make sure they weren’t still, but she resisted. She didn’t want to appear naive.

   “Well, make yourself at home. You know the deal by now, my home is your home for the week you’ll be here.”

   Kim plopped down on the couch that would be her bed for the remainder of the week before she boarded the train for yet another exciting year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	3. The Triwizard Tournament

Chapter 3

The Triwizard Tournament

   Kim woke up one morning, a few days after arriving at Aunt Brits. She had only just begun to adjust to the time difference yet again. Though she hadn’t had to fly, jet lag still affected her after traveling across the world in an instant. She slouched into the wooden kitchen chair with a bowl of cereal, picking up the spoon and glancing at a pile of old magazines that sat across the table in Aunt Brit’s place. They hadn’t been there the day before, but they had coffee stains and dust on them, so Kim could tell they weren’t new. Probably pulled from the bathroom magazine rack.

   With a frown and a sudden feeling of been-here-before, Kim shifted the top pile of magazines and revealed a newspaper from a week or so ago. On the front page was a picture of a dark tan young man in Quidditch gear. He had a bloodied and beaten looking face and was holding up a snitch in his hand. Beside where he hovered, looking sever, was the bold heading “Quidditch World Cup Takes Unexpected Turn; Ireland Wins by Krum Catching Snitch”.

   Kim gave a knowing smile and went back to her cereal. So her dream had been a premonition after all. She wondered if the twins had read the back of her letter already, or if they had forgotten. It didn’t matter either way. She had sent the letter before the match, so no matter she would have proof that she’d seen the future, if they decided they didn’t want to believe her. She didn’t have any real reason to suspect they wouldn’t trust her claim, other than the fact that even the wizarding world tended to look at claims of future seeing as daft at best, insane at worst.

   Aunt Brit walked into the kitchen, interrupting Kim’s thoughts. She opened the ice chest to pull out a sausage as she looked over her shoulder and peered at the moving picture on the newspaper.

   “You heard what happened there, didn’t you?” she asked, moving to rummage through a cabinet for a frying pan.

   “No. What happened?”

   Brit shook her head lightly. “You’re mother really needs to get you wizard post.”

   Kim shrugged. “It’s not like American wizard post would have reported on something that happened at the Quidditch match in England.”

   Brit looked over her shoulder, seeming tired. “They would have reported this.”

   Kim sat up in her seat, scooting forward slightly as Aunt Brit lit a fire in the fire place with her wand and hung the pan over it.

   “What happened?” Kim pressed.

   “There was an attack. Death Eaters. You know what those are?” Kim shook her head. “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named- you know who he is?” Kim nodded, though she had only just gotten used to calling him such. Aunt Brit must be more accustom since she lived in England part time. “Death Eaters are his followers, or they were. They’ve been quiet for a long time, biding their time I suppose… Everything’s going to be madness now.”

   “What does it mean?” Kim asked, feeling her stomach squirm. Fred and George had been there at the attack. She’d looked for both of them in Diagon Ally for the past few days, strolling the streets to see if she spotted a flash of orange hair. She hadn’t been worried that she’d missed them though, figuring they’d probably gotten their books ahead of time because they were busy with the quidditch match and visiting family. But now a pit was sinking in her stomach. What if they’d been hurt?

   “Well…” Brit said, not looking away from her cooking. “Just be careful this year. Like I’ve said in the past, you’re in the safest place there is, being in Hogwarts. But things might start changing soon.”

   “Was the attack really that bad? Were any injured?”

   Aunt Brit shrugged. “The Ministry is being tight lipped about it, damn them. Rita Skeeter, the famous journalist, she says there were several bodies, but nothing’s been confirmed.”

   Kim swallowed, her hands gone cold and trembling. _Several bodies. Several bodies with red hair and freckles and lanky builds._ What if the Weasley family never made it back home? Kim hadn’t gotten an owl back from Fred or George either. Again, she’d thought that was pretty normal for them, what with the way they hardly ever wrote as it was and with them being preoccupied. But what if…

   She didn’t have long to worry over it, though the next 24 hours felt like an eternity of her guts writhing with discomfort. The next day it was time for her to depart to platform 9 ¾. It was a fairly dreadful day, with the pouring chill of English rain. But Kim could hardly care about getting a little wet when she had no idea if her best friends were alive or dead.

_Certainly it would be in the paper if a family that worked for the Ministry died,_ she reasoned as she pushed through the platform. _But… bodies were found… But… there were probably thousands of wizards there, it could have been anyone… but…_

   And then her eyes landed on a cluster of orangey-red. Her heart lifted as she drew in a deep breath. Fred and George were standing down the platform beside the train, about a head taller than Harry, Ron, and Hermione who they stood beside. They were talking to their mother, who Kim had only really seen in passing last year when they’d left for the summer and not truly met. There were also two boys there, one who was bulky and muscled looking, with sun tanned skin, and the other who was stylishly dressed and calm looking, with long hair pulled back in a pony-tail at the nape of his neck.

Kim didn’t stop herself from flying down the platform, pushing past a family who scowled as they pulled their baggage out of the way of her’s that knocked past, dropping all her things once she was in arms reach, and launching herself into the midst of the twins while expelling the words, “ _You’re alive!”_ from her chest.

   They both looked at her with surprise as she put her arms around either of their shoulders, and then, once they took in her face, they smiled with excitement.

   “Yeah, of course we are,” George said, placing his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

   “And boy have we got loads to tell you. _Later,_ ” Fred said after bending to speak in her ear in a low tone.

   Kim let out a sound of relief and then simply breathed the new air. Air that was filled with the smell of home knitted sweaters and old floorboards. “I’m just glad you’re both all right. I thought…” She blinked and as she opened her eyes she accidently met the gaze of Mrs. Weasley. She had a kind of fond, knowing smile on her face, but her lips were slightly pursed and her head inclined in a way that made Kim instantly realize she’d probably interrupted what every goodbyeing they’d been doing.

   “What’s your name dear?” she asked.

   “Oh, I’m sorry,” Kim said, suddenly feeling embarrassed for her display of affection. “I’m Kim. I didn’t mean to interrupt, it’s just, I read the papers, and…”

   “No, no, it’s quite alright,” Mrs. Weasley said, her smile fading slightly, though her gaze was still warm. “I was very worried myself. The articles, they were… well, anyway.”

   “But we’re all alright. Nothing to fret about,” George said.

   “But the article,” Kim continued, “it said there were bodies… who-“ but Kim stopped herself short because Harry was rolling his eyes.

   “It’s all rubbish. No one died,” he explained.

   “Oh,” Kim said, feeling a bit sheepish.

   “Don’t worry dear, no harm done,” Mrs. Weasley said kindly, with a wide smile. “We were just seeing everyone off.”

   There was a brief silence and then, “I might be seeing you all sooner than you think,” the tan Weasley said.

   “Why?” asked Fred keenly.

   “You’ll see. Just don’t tell Percy I mentioned it… it’s ‘classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,’ after all.”

   “Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year,” said the stylish Weasley. Kim just frowned at this exchange, because it seemed to be greatly disgruntling Fred and George for a reason she couldn’t understand.

   “ _Why?_ ” George said impatiently.                  

   “You’re going to have an interesting year,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it…”

   “A bit of _what_?” said Ron. Kim’s face was screwed up into a bewildered frown, looking back and forth between the four brothers. _What on earth were they talking about? What was going on at Hogwarts this year?_ But evidently she wasn’t the only one left out of the secret.

   The train whistle blew, interrupting her wonderment, and Mrs. Weasley started motioning them toward the train doors. Kim hoisted up her bags hurriedly, now mainly concerned with managing to get all her things aboard the train before it left the station.

   “Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said as Kim dragged her bag onto the train past her.

   “You guys were at the Weasley’s too?” Kim asked, pausing momentarily in her trudge to clumsily drag all her cumbersome things onto the train. “You went to the World Cup too?”

   Hermione simply nodded because Mrs. Weasley was saying, “Oh it was my pleasure, dears.” Kim felt the train jostling beneath her and reminded herself it was probably moments until they began to move. She dragged her bags around the corner and down the aisle while the rest of the group haggled Mrs. Weasley and the two older boys still standing on the platform about what secret goings on at Hogwarts they evidently knew about. She found a compartment with Lee Jordan in the corner and a recognizably shabby couple of bags in the luggage compartment that Kim thought were Fred and George’s.

   She gave a wave to Lee and started to hoist her bags into the overhead, but as she was poised with the bag overhead and just barely on the lip of the compartment, the train started to move and she stumbled to the left. Strix flapped her wings angrily in her cage as Kim bumped into it. She flew out the open door and landed on Kim’s shoulder.

   “Oh, you’re probably going to regret that, but alright,” she muttered to the bird and she rose onto her toes to push the heavy luggage the rest of the way up. Now for the next one.

   “Here, we’ve got it,” Fred said, suddenly on her left side while George was reaching down for the luggage on her right. Kim ducked as George hoisted the baggage over his head and slid it next to the others with ease. Fred took Strix’s cage and did the same. Kim found herself realizing something she found rather odd she hadn’t noticed before. Had the boys gotten more muscular over the summer, or had she just never noticed the round cords of muscles on their arms or the firm shape of their shoulders. She supposed they would have to be, with batting at blugers all the day during quidditch practice. With a sweeping glance she saw they were still the same long and lean bundle of limbs they’d always been, just now there was something bulkier about them. Something filled in and slightly older. And their hair was even shaggier than it had been the year before.

   “What?” they said together. She snapped to attention, realizing she’d been quite weirdly looking them over. She swallowed and shook her head, following Fred into the compartment and sitting beside him on the empty bench while George sat beside Lee.

   “Wonder what all that was about,” George said to Fred.

   “Don’t know. Curious, though.”

   “So how was the match?” Kim asked. “The attack didn’t interrupt it, did it?”

   Fred and George both turned on her with bounding excitement, shaking their heads. “No,” they said.

   “You are brilliant,” George said.

   “Seriously Kim,” Fred said.

   “You’ve really outdone yourself this time.”

   Kim felt herself blushing but she forced herself to be collected enough at least for a somewhat cool response. “Boys, I appreciate the confidence… but what are you talking about?”

   “You’re prediction!” Fred said.

   “The one you sent in your letter.”

   “Oh, you read it then,” Kim said, pleased. She was glad they were impressed with her, though she was surprised they were _this_ impressed.

   “Oh, we read it alright,” Fred said.

   “Did a bit more than that,” George said, looking at Fred with a mischievously knowing gaze.

   Fred chuckled. “ _That_ we did.”

   “Okay Tweedledee and Tweedledum, can you _tell_ me what you did already? I’m in the dark over here!”

   “We gambled,” Fred said.

   “We gambled it _all_.”

   Kim looked, somewhat wide eyed between the two of them. At first she didn’t know what to think of it. _Gambling’s supposed to be bad, right? Because you’re betting money on something you don’t know the outcome of. But they_ did _know what was going to happen, because I told them… But isn’t that illegal? But then why am I smiling about it?_

   “How much did you win?” she asked, peevish smile still spread across her face.

   “ _A lot,_ ” Fred said.

   “We’re using it on our Hogwarts joke shop.”

   “We’re still working on the name, by the way,” George said, both to Kim and to Lee who he nudged. “We were thinking something like Weasley and Weasley- Wizard’s Wicked Wonders.”

   Kim raised a brow. “Bit long, don’t you think?”

   “It’s a work in progress,” Fred said a bit defensively.

   Just then there was a crash, the sound of glass shattering somewhere down the aisle, followed by the distinct sound of Hermione’s voice saying “ _Ron!”_ quite reproachfully.

   Kim started and then looked toward the door, and then back at the twins. “What do you suppose that was?”

   “Sounded like you’re brother being a klutz or something,” Lee reasoned.

   “Surprise, surprise,” Fred said absently. The two of them then delved into sharing their summer escapades with Kim. She was pleased to find that neither of them seemed the slightest bit distant or that the lost contact over summer had remotely dampened their friendship. Fred and George had evidently been quite busy this summer, which both of them offered up as excuse as to why they didn’t write more often. George also offered apology, but Kim didn’t really mind. The two of them had been busy concocting all kinds of prank items from fake wands to taffy’s that make your tongue grow four feet long. Mrs. Weasley had found out and gotten very angry with them, throwing out much of their supply and setting back a lot of their work. But it hadn’t dampened the boy’s spirit. They said the research was the hardest part after all, and now that they knew what worked, recreating their products wouldn’t be too difficult.

   Kim was taken aback slightly by all of this. She’d known the boys were pranksters but this was a whole other level of ridiculousness. She found it endearing, of course. And also a bit impressive. She was simply surprised they took their prank pulling business quite this seriously. Then again, she was amazed that she was even _capable_ of being surprised by anything they pulled out of their sleeve.

   Exchanging summer stories and talking of the year to come brought them all the way to Hogsmeade station where they departed the train and road in the carriages up to Hogwarts. She bid Fred and George goodbye, probably and unfortunately for the night, and went to sit at her Ravenclaw table.

   “There you are,” said Clemon, sounding almost agitated. “I didn’t see you on the train.”

   “Because I didn’t sit with the Ravenclaws,” Kim explained, trying to sound like this was a casual response, though she knew it would be met with callous.

   “Oh, I see…” Clemon said, looking off at the professors table. Kim pretended not to hear the bitterness.

   It was at this point that the first years came into the great hall, led by Hagrid. They were all sopping wet, even more so than Kim herself who was quite damp and had pulled her blond hair into a twist over her shoulder as to keep it’s cold tendrils from falling and dripping all over her. But the first years looked as though they might have taken a swim rather than boated across the lake.

   “Shouldn’t they cancel those kinds of ceremonies in the event of a storm?” Kim muttered to Clemon. “What if one of them was struck by lightning?”

   Clemon merely chuckled, watching as the first years lined up before the teachers’ table and the stool that Professor McGonagall had placed before them. Atop it was a very old hat that Kim recognized as the sorting hat. She had never actually been present for this ceremony. This time last year she had been in the Professor McGonagall’s office getting sorted herself, and sitting through a meeting of a few other details with Harry and Hermione. She remembered thinking that the professor had seemed to like her at the time. She thought with a mixture of scorn and pleasure that she probably didn’t anymore, since she had snuck into the Gryffindor common room last year to join the party celebrating their winning the Quidditch Cup.

   Kim watched as the shaky, small first years were sorted into their houses. The hat was placed on their nervous heads, and sometimes it shouted out right away where they should go, and other times it sat and mulled it over for a minute, like it had with her.

   “Did it know right away for you?” Kim asked Clemon as they finished clapping for a new Ravenclaw. She looked at Kim, clearly not understanding the question. “The hat,” she explained. “Did it know where to put you right away, or did it talk in your head and kind of debate where you should go?”

   Clemon looked taken aback. She looked away from Kim, directing her gaze to the front of the Great Hall as if she very disliked to have her attention drawn from the sorting of the small dripping boy into the house of… “ _Hufflepuff!”_ the hat shouted.

   “Well, if you must know,” Clemon said, clapping halfheartedly and still not looking at Kim, “it considered Slytherin for me. But it was just a consideration.” At these last words she swiveled her eyes severely at Kim.

   Kim drew back, surprised by Clemon’s extreme guardedness on the subject. Honestly the reveal didn’t surprise her in the slightest “Chill out, Clemon,” Kim said with a smirk. “It’s not like I’m going to take a knife to you for snake skin.”

   Kim snickered at her own joke, but Clemon didn’t look pleased. She looked rather embarrassed, actually. Kim wiped the pleased-with-herself expression from her face.

   “Seriously, I don’t care,” she said with more sincerity.

   “Yes, well… don’t go spreading rumors about it, Kim,” Clemon said with her usual sourness. “It’s not as if you’re the most loyal and true Ravenclaw there is.”

   “Yeah, I’m not. Who cares? I’m sure it will come as a _huge shocker_ to you that I was considered for Gryffindor.”

   Much to Kim’s surprise, Clemon’s head twisted around and her eyes were bulged wide. “ _Seriously?_ ” she asked, ask if Kim had just told her she’d found a pair of dragon wings sprouting from her toes.

   “Yes, seriously, Clemon. Honestly, does that surprise you?”

   “Honestly? A little…”

   Kim jutted her head forward and opened her mouth a bit as she frowned and squinted, making a face that amounted to expressing _are you stupid or are you kidding?_

   “I usually don’t like Gryffindor’s,” Clemon defended. Kim put her face back to normal, and then something occurred to her with a hint of mischievousness.

   “ _Aw, Clem,_ ” Kim said, with far too much affection. “You just admitted to liking me!”

   Clemon rolled her eyes and went back to watching the ceremony as the last first year scurried off to their house. Kim just chuckled to herself and clapped along with the rest of the crowed. Then the feast began. They ate up, enjoying the food and each other’s company. Luna got up and scooted down the table once she had finished eating.

   “Hey Luna,” Kim said cheerfully. “How was your summer?”

   “Oh, quite splendid,” Luna said in her wispy voice. “I wrote a few articles for the Quibbler. That’s my father’s magazine.”

   “Oh, that’s great! How nice. My summer was pretty boring, to be honest,” Kim confessed.

   As the eating finished and the chatting died down, Dumbledore rose to address the crowed. At first it was the usual speech that he gave last year, and Kim was really only half listening. But then he said, “It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.”

   Kim sat up with surprise as Cho Chang who sat a few spaces down and across from Kim and was the Ravenclaw seeker let out a gasp of air, twisting around to look at Dumbledore with disbelief. Kim craned her neck to see over to the Gryffindor table where Fred and George were looking dumb struck and a bit infuriated, their mouths moving as they stared at Dumbledore. Kim could tell however by the bend in their brows that they were honestly heartbroken by this news.

   “This is due to an event that will be starting in October,” Dumbledore continued, “and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers’ time and energy. But I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts—

   But his announcement was interrupted by the large doors of the Great Hall swinging open, and a thunderous crack from the storm outside. In shuffled a man leaning on a twisted wooden staff, and a weathered face to match. He was dressed in a dark shabby cloak and was dripping from the storm. His hair was wiry and frazzled, and every inch of his face seemed to be covered in scars. But it was his eye that made Kim watch him with tight bodied alertness. One of his eyes was strapped onto his scared and mangled head, like an eye patch, and was too wide to match the small beady shape of the other. It was electric blue and bulging, lidless, and ever swiveling as the man began his haggard approach toward the teacher’s table. He limped, and judging by the heavy sound his foot made, Kim thought it was wooden. With every step his cane smacked the ground with a loud crack that echoed through the silent hall as every student watched breathlessly.

_Is_ this _our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?_ Kim wondered with a bit of aw and fear. He certainly looked the part, but perhaps a bit _too_ much. Their last defense against the dark arts teacher had been a werewolf, but they had gotten lucky with him. He hadn’t been half bad. How much more luck would this school have with questionable dark arts masters?

   The haggard man and Dumbledore had some kind of unhearable exchange to which Dumbledore motioned him to an empty seat at the teachers table, and then turned to the rest of the Great Hall and confirmed Kim’s suspicions. This man was their new teacher, and his name was Professor Moody.

   “As I was saying,” Dumbledore continued, smiling as if somewhat amused by something, “we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.”

   “You’re _joking!_ ” Fred yelled, so loud that everyone, including Kim all the way at the Ravelclaw table could hear him. Kim laughed, along with everyone else in the Great Hall including Dumbledore, at his outburst. Kim blushed slightly for him and shook her head.

   “I am _not_ joking, Mr. Weasley,” Dumbledore said, “thought now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…”

   Kim laughed even harder. She didn’t think she had ever seen the less serious side of Professor Dumbledore before, and she was eager to hear his joke, but Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

   “Er- but maybe this is not the time… no…” Dumbledore said, “where was I? Ah Yes, the Triwizard Tournament…”

   He then launched into a lengthy explanation of the tournament for those who had never heard of it, who Fred and George evidently were not one of, and who Kim most certainly _was._ The Tournament was a challenge of wits and strength, and in general, wizardry. A long time ago, it was rather common for the three European schools to put forth one of their best students to compete for one winner to take the cup, but it was very dangerous, and many died. For this reason, the Triwizard Tournament had not been held in a very long time. But, that was about to change.

   Kim was listening to all this with a bit of worry. Her eyes darting to Fred and George, who she couldn’t hear the words coming out of their moving lips, but she could read well enough. They were excited, exuberant actually. Would they try to compete? What would happen if they did? And was it really wise to bring back such a barbaric competition? Kim trusted Dumbledore, and she couldn’t imagine he would have allowed something on Hogwarts grounds that would endanger his students. Surely this tournament would not be as dangerous as the days of old… but still, she couldn’t help worrying about the twins entering into such a competition. Not just because she was worried for their lives. They were both competent wizards, more than just so. But they were _brothers,_ and they were more than inseparable. This was a competition with one winner. What struggles would they face through this year if they entered the Triwizard Tournament as competitors against each other?

   “Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts,” Dumbledore said, pulling Kim from her thoughts, “the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age, that is to say seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This,” Dumbledore raised his voice slightly as he spoke, for several people had made noises of outrage at his words, “is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them.”

   Kim felt a wave of relief loosen her muscles as she exhaled, but she was immediately guilty for it as she directed her gaze at Fred and George across the hall. They were furious. Outraged. Full of injustice. She would be hearing about this for days, she was sure of that.

   “I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champions,” Dumbledore continued, and Kim could have sworn she saw his light blue eyes scan the Gryffindor table and land on the twins. She swallowed. “I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

   “The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!”

   Kim rose immediately and started for the Gryffindor table. She wanted to catch the twins before they ran off in a steaming rage, plotting something before she even had a chance to talk to them.

   “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Clemon asked incredulously.

   “Uh- catch up with you later. I’ll be up to the dormitory soon,” she said over her shoulder, squeezing between the filing out students. In a moment she could hear the twin’s voices coming over the crowd. They hadn’t yet got up from the Gryffindor table.

   “The champions’ll get to do all sorts of stuff you’d never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!” Fred was saying, eyeing the teacher’s table angrily.

   “Yeah,” said Ron dreamily. “Yeah, a thousand Galleons…”

   “Sorry about the rules, you two,” Kim said, reaching them.

   “It’s bollocks is what it is,” Fred grumbled.

   “Come on,” Hermione said to Harry and Ron. “We’ll be the only ones left here if you don’t move.” The three of them stood and this seemed enough to pull Fred and George’s gaze from glaring at the staff table long enough to stand as well.

   “How do you figure he’s planning on stopping underage wizards from entering?” George pondered as they started for the door. Kim didn’t like where this was headed.

   “Depends on how we’re putting our names in I suppose,” Fred said.

   “It’s got to be some kind of object. Unless we give ‘em right to this ‘impartial judge’.”

   “Who is the impartial judge?” Harry asked. “The one who’s going to decide who the champions are.”

   “Dunno,” said Fred,” but it’s them we’ll have to fool. I reckon a couple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, George.”

   “You guys are seriously planning on trying to enter anyway?” Kim hedged. She didn’t want to get on them too harshly. She remembered last year when she’d gotten a bit sore with them for giving Harry the Marauder’s Map so he could sneak into Hogsmeade with the then-threat of Sirius on the loose. They hadn’t spoken for months after that. Still, this could be life threatening, and even if it wasn’t, what about their friendships as brothers…

   “Of course!” Fred retorted.

   “Honestly I’m ashamed you thought we wouldn’t.”

   “But Dumbledore knows you’re not of age,” Ron reasoned, making Kim nod her head and point at him in agreement, if not a bit of surprise as well.

   “Yeah, but he’s not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?” said Fred. “Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he’ll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore’s trying to stop us giving our names.”

   “And you don’t think if Dumbledore found out he’d stop it,” Kim said.

   “I don’t think he could,” George said.

   “People have died, though!” said Hermione in a worried voice. They were making their way toward Gryffindor Tower, and Kim was just following along. She was too worried about Fred and George to mind walking a bit extra.

   “Yeah,” said Fred lightly. Kim knew this would be his reaction, which is why she hadn’t bothered to bring up the risk of death in the first place. “But that was years ago, wasn’ it? Anyway, where’s the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get ‘round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?”

   At this Kim’s mouth popped open and she scowled at Fred. She jabbed an elbow into his side, without thinking of consequence.

   “Ow! What?” he asked. She hadn’t thought about what she would say to explain herself, only that she was worried enough as it was about Fred and George putting themselves into life threatening situations, she didn’t need to think about them enticing the much less skilled Ron, and probably Harry as well into it too.

   She hesitates as she looked around. “You offering Ron an in and not me? What, you saying I’m a bad witch?” she blurted out. It was a complete bluff. She had no interest in entering the Triwizard Tournament, even if she could do it legally. She wasn’t nearly skilled enough in basic charms and she was only a fourth year, whereas Fred and George were now in their Sixth year.

   Fred snickered in response to her lively attitude. “That’s the spirit,” he said. “Don’t worry we’ll get you in too.”

   But George didn’t look nearly as enthusiastic. “I dunno,” he hedged, seeming almost uneasy. “Are you sure you can handle that, Kim? No offence or anything! You’re a brilliant witch, brilliant at divination and creatures and all that,” he insisted, but his discomfort still showed. “It’s just going to be a dangerous competition for someone who’s not more… good with charms and…”

   Kim’s heart thumped at the idea that he was worried about her, but she also saw this as the perfect opportunity for her to wield his words to prove her point.

   “Oh no,” she said, bounding on him. “You’re not allowed to be worried for me and expect me not to be worried for you. It _is_ a dangerous competition, for anyone. And you both are underage too.”

   “Yeah, George,” Fred agreed, though Kim got a sneaking feeling from his tone he was _not_ getting the right idea from what she’d said. “Kim can enter if she wants.”

   Kim looked at George whose lips had a slight purse now and was eyeing Fred with what Kim swore was a hint of distain. This hadn’t at all been what she’d intended. Fred looked to George and saw the remaining look of discomfort on his face, presumably over the idea of Kim possibly entering the competition and facing mortal injury.

   “Cover up, George,” Fred teased with a smirk. “Your soft spots are showing.”

   George’s grimace deepened, but he just shook his head lightly and said nothing. They were nearing the Fat Lady by now, almost to the top of the stairs.

   “Well, I’m _not_ entering the competition. I was just trying to make a point,” Kim said, regretting saying anything at all and wishing she could smooth things over. She felt guilty for betraying George’s moment of caring for her, and feared perhaps now he would never show it to her again since she’d unwittingly used it against him.

   Fred screwed up his face and looked at Kim briefly before shaking his head. “Girls,” he groaned. “They don’t make much sense, do they?”

   “Password?” asked the fat lady. George opened his mouth to answer but the Fat Lady spotted Kim the next second and her eyes bulged as she gasped. She pointed a thick finger at Kim. “ _You,_ ” she accused, making Kim straighten slightly in vague surprise. “ _You’re_ not allowed in here!”

   Kim made a face of disinterest as George opened his mouth again to say the password.

   “Don’t you dare say the password with that _spy_ in our midst!” the Fat Lady cried, interrupting George before he could say anything.

   “Good God,” Fred heaved, turning to Kim, “would you mind buzzing off then, spy, so we can get into our common room?” He said it with exasperation, but Kim knew it wasn’t at her but at the Fat Lady’s extreme measures.

   Kim let out a breath of a laugh and said, tonelessly, “Yeah, I was just leaving. See you guys.” She turned and started away, but before she had made it more than a step or two she turned and eyed the Fat Lady, making a show of raising her arms and squatting down like an over exaggerated spy movie. “I’ll be back for you,” she breathed at the Fat Lady who gasped and clutched her large bosom with her hand and moaned with fright.

   The group of Gryffindors laughed hardily, has did Kim as she turned around and made her way toward the Ravenclaw Tower.


	4. New Classes

Chapter  4

New Classes

   Kim got her schedule the next day and was looking it over in the common room when Clemon walked up to her.

   “You know what the Triwizard Tournament means, right?” she said, looking up from her schedule and plopping down on a seat beside where Kim stood.

   “What?”

   “There’s going to be a ball. A dance, right before the tournament starts.”

   Kim swallowed, pocketing her schedule as her heart fluttered at this news. Retta had talked about school dances all the time, but Lemmonforth had never held them. From the stories that Retta had told, and the occasional movie about boring muggle teenagers she’d been forced to watch, she’d gathered that dances were centered mainly around getting a date, looking good, comparing how good you look to other teenagers, and _dancing._ Kim couldn’t imagine she was any good at dancing since she had pointedly avoided it so far in her life, unless you counted the occasional silliness at family reunions with cousins. But that kind of dancing included a lot of goofy hand moves and running about.

   “That’s why it told us to bring a dress or dress robes this year,” Clemon continued to explain. “You did bring a dress, didn’t you?”

   Kim nodded. She was decently happy with the dress she’d gotten. Her mother had taken her shopping back in America, since that was the only thing she could get her without being totally helpless in the subject, not that her mother was a dress expert. She had been given a pretty limited budget, however, so the dress wasn’t much. She hadn’t realized it would be for a dance. She’d figured it was for some formal dinner party or something of the like.

   “Did you?” Kim asked, distractedly. She was still picturing herself in her dress self-consciously.

   “Of course.”

   Kim went down to breakfast with this troublesome thought clouding her mind. Kim was 14. Retta was only 13 and she’d already been on a date. Clemon apparently had been flirting with a boy last semester, and though she hadn’t thought to ask, she was sure they had probably already kissed by now. Most girls she knew had already managed to kiss a boy by now, except maybe Hermione. But did Hermione really even want to? She seemed all too busy to worry about all that, which was perfectly fine for her. Kim tried to be that way. She tried to _seem_ that way at least, that it didn’t bother her in the slightest that she’d never even held hands before. But inside, her gut was twisting with the idea that this dance might be her chance. Maybe someone would ask her! But then there was the other side of that dreaded coin… maybe no one would.

   At breakfast Fred and George wouldn’t shut up about their plans to undermine the age limiting system of the Triwizard Tournament, and Kim had yet to think of a way to dissuade them from it without damaging their friendship, so she kept quiet about it. She discovered that she shared a class with Ron, Harry, and Hermione, but only one. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but that wasn’t for another few days.

   She headed off for her classes, which were rather boring that day. Divinations was awful. Trelawney, who had seemingly liked Kim at the beginning of last year now seemed to distain her. Kim couldn’t help but thinking she might be jealous because Kim was a better Diviner than she was, but she didn’t dare suggest it  aloud. History of Magic was, well, History of Magic; all ancient wizards and tales and plagues. Care of Magical Creatures was no better, with their introduction to blast-ended skrewts. Kim was greatly disappointed at Hagrid’s lack of base knowledge about the skrewts, and quickly realized that she would have to do some research outside of class if she wanted to survive with all her fingers unsinged.

   “Hagrid, you can’t just start a semester with so little information about a creature we’re supposed to be caring for,” Kim chastised after class. She didn’t have any more classes and it was still a few hours before sundown so she was helping him seal the creates of the blast-ended skrewts, which was turning out to be quite a challenge with them blasting out the occasional burp of fire from their backsides.

   “What _are_ these things? I’ve never heard of them.”

   “Well… tha’s no surprise,” Hagrid said as if he were admitting to something, heaving one of the creates up and carrying it over to the side of his house.

   “Why not?” Kim asked cautiously.

   “Uh… Ther nah exactly a known species, so ta say.” Kim just looked at him with bewilderment as he came to take the crate she had just managed to seal. “I bred ‘em me self yeh see. Took a fire crab and a manticore, an’ this is wha’ I got.”

   Kim looked at him with wide eyes. This would certainly explain why he had no idea how to feed the buggers and also why Kim had never in all her studies heard of such things.

   “Hagrid,” she said cautiously, and then came over to where he’d just set down the second crate with a puff of fire and smoke hissing out the cracks. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You didn’t get permission to do that, did you?”

   “Well, not exa’ly.”

   “Hagrid! That’s illegal, did you know that?” she demanded, her voice a high, whining whisper. “If you got caught, not only are all these blasty nastys going to be killed, you are going to be slapped with a _huge_ fine. At minimum! Oh my god,” Kim said turning and walking in a small circle as she rubbed her eyes. “How big do you think they’re going to get?” she asked, looking at him again with a mix a horror and genuine curiosity.

   Hagrid gave a half chuckle. “Hard to say, fer sure. Fire crabs’r only ‘bout this big,” he said, holding his hands a few feet apart. “Manticore’s though,” he mused, scratching his bearded as he thought, frowning a bit.

   “Are quite large,” Kim finished for him, a worried look taking her expression.

   “Welp, we’ll see,” he harrumphed, walking to the door of his cabin.

   “Hagrid!”

   He paused and looked over his shoulder. “Wha’? Don’ worry! It’ll be fine, don’ fuss.” Kim simply pursed her lips and shook her head has Hagrid’s massive form disappeared into his hut.

   The next two days passed without much else of note. Kim didn’t see Fred and George often, which worried her because she knew that could only mean they were up to scheming. Hermione was never around at lunch or dinner. Kim always caught a glimpse of her stuffing food in her mouth before she rushed off, presumably busy with classes already. Kim had seen her schedule though, and it wasn’t nearly as packed as it had been last year.

   Wednesday afternoon Kim had the other class on her schedule she was looking forward to, Magical Creatures of Intelligence. This class was dedicated specifically to the history and classification of the term ‘being’ as well as those creatures that had been offered being status but refused, could qualify as beings were it not for their extreme violence towards humans, and those that were presently considered beings by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

   Kim wiggled in her seat, sitting next to Luna. She’d never had a class with Luna before, since she was a year behind Kim, but for this class Hogwarts had made exceptions for some students with particular interests, since it was a special class that had never been offered before. Kim straitened her quill for the third time even though she knew she wouldn’t be taking any notes because she would be too excited and listening too intently. The professor entered and flicked her wand at the chalkboard. She had long strait hair the color of sandalwood that reached the small of her back and parted down the center of her head. She had a plain but kind looking face that was long and narrow, and appeared to be in her mid-40s. There was nothing dolled up about her; her robes were quite plane and her face bare and natural. Responding to the flick of her wand a piece of chalk ghosted up to the green slate and scrawled _Professor Maddox._

   “Hello class,” she said an unusual accent. It was European, but Kim wasn’t as familiar with it as English, Scottish, or Irish. “Welcome to Magical Creatures of Intelligence. Today’s lesson we will start by discussing the very loose term of a being. Can anyone tell me what it means to be a ‘being’?”

   This was a predominantly Ravenclaw classroom so many hands shot up. Professor Maddox called on a girl named Patty sitting front row.

   “A being is someone who is considered intelligent enough to be included in the magical community, is expected to follow magical law.”

   “ _And_ is allowed to partake in the _shaping_ of those laws, don’t forget that part. Well done, though. Yes, one part we easily forget is that all beings considered magical should be considered when we shape magical law. Has that always happened?” she asked the class. Everyone was quite, though Kim shook her head. She had read an article once about how vampires are shunned from wizarding society and even hunted though many of them take a great effort to avoid drinking muggle or wizard blood. Kim also remembered last year, when professor Lupin had to resign because it was revealed he was a werewolf. He had seemed to have his lycanthropy under control. As a werewolf in human form he was considered a being, though it seemed once the news was out people were hasty to treat him as only a creature.

   “No,” Professor Maddox said. “It does not always happen. There are even some who would have muggles taken off the list of beings,” she said grimly. Whispers spread across the classroom. _Slytherin’s. You-Know-Who-Supporters. Death Eaters._ Kim remembered what Aunt Brit had said about this year, and she was right. Things already felt different.

   “So, let’s discuss the definition of being. We’ve heard it defined quite nicely by,” she gestured to Patty who said her name allowed, “Patty, thank you dear, now let’s discuss. What defines intelligence?”

   Less hands rose this time, so Kim thought she’d go ahead and give it a stab. Professor Maddox skimmed and her eyes landed on Kim.

   “What’s your name?” she asked.

   “Kim Shimmers.”

   “Kim, what do you think? What makes a creature intelligent?”

   “Well,” Kim began, pondering it over. “It seems to me that the aim of the department is to put certain creatures into a category so that we know whether or not they can be… held accountable for their actions. Legally, I mean. So, if a vampire kills a human, does he know any better? Can he be held accountable for his crime, or is it basically like a hungry dog attacking another?”

   Professor Maddox nodded thoughtfully, looking impressed. “ _Very_ thoughtful answer Miss Shimmers. I must say… you’ve got it spot on. The goal is to understand whether or not the other creatures are capable of being involved in the wizarding world at the same level as humans. But, it’s a tricky thing to figure. Can anyone tell me why?” No one raised their hands. “Let’s first list out what is considered a being.”

   She waved her wand so the chalk was hovering against the board again. After some discussion, and multiple students answering including Kim, the entire list of beings that were currently considered such by the Ministry were on the board. The list was wizards, muggles, werewolves (while in human form), house elves, hags, goblins, vampires, Dwarfs, veela, and giants.

   “Quite a motley crew,” Professor Maddox said with a small smile, the edges of her thin lips curving up at almost right angles. “Now, with this list here for you to look at, what stands out to you about it? What doesn’t quite line up between our definition of the term ‘being’ and those that are defined as such?”

   Kim had thought she’d had an idea for an answer before, but hadn’t been brave enough to raise her hand. She felt a bit surer now, and again the professor pointed at her.

   “Well I know there are some who have refused the title all together. Like the centaurs who were offered being status but didn’t want it.”

   Professor Maddox smiled and looked at her desk a moment. “Again, very clever, but you’re getting ahead of us Miss Shimmers.” Kim sank an inch in her seat. “That is true though, what you said. But no, what I’m talking about is something much simpler, and something only involving the creatures on this list,” she said, gesturing to the board. “Think about the very first name. Wizards. We hold the vast majority of Ministry positions. Therefore, we decide the vast majority of regulations that are passed along involving the muggle and creature world. Now look at the second name on the list. Muggle. How many positions do they hold? You all know the answer.”

   “None,” said someone behind Kim.

   "None. Ah,” Professor Maddox said, as if she were just realizing the issue along with the rest of the class. “But what was the tenant that _defines_ a being, again? One who is intelligent enough to follow the laws of the magical world and is therefore held responsible for following them, and also should bear some of the burden in enforcing and _shaping_ those laws by witch they are governed. And yet muggles, by vast majority, lay entirely unaware of the existence of magic. We allow their deaths by magically curable ailments. We govern them, secretly, behind a curtain of memory charms. Quite the paradox, wouldn’t you say?” she asked, looking around at the class with inquisitive eyes.

   Everyone lay silent, like Kim who felt rather shaken. Perhaps it was simply that she had never thought of it like that, or that she had always resented her muggle upbringing, resented her parents for knowing nothing of the world Kim would eventually have to venture into. But it truly wasn’t their fault, was it…

   Professor Maddox then delved into discussion of the mistreatment and misrepresentation of werewolves and house elves which carried them until the end of class. Kim left, feeling both enlightened and weighty at the same time. It was a rather impossible and uncomfortable feeling, and she wondered if this wasn’t something akin to what adulthood must feel like.

* * *

   “So, straight into it. Curses,” Professor Moody said in his harsh scratchy voice. It was the next day in Kim’s first Defense against the Dark Art’s class, and Professor Moody didn’t look any better than he had the first day he’d arrived. The other students had met this class with quite a lot of anticipation, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione who sat around her. Kim herself hadn’t thought much on it until now, though she had to admit she was beginning to feel a bit of the excitement too.

   “They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I’m supposed to teach you counter curses and leave it at that. I’m not supposed to show you what illegal dark curses look like until you’re in the sixth year. You’re not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore’s got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you’re up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you’ve never seen? A wizard who’s about to put an illegal curse on you isn’t going to tell you what he’s about to do. He’s not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I’m talking.”

   Kim twisted her head around to see Lavender Brown jump and fold something up under the desk that she’d been showing a classmate. Kim didn’t know how Moody had seen it, other than to assume his magic eye had the ability to see through solid wood. Kim’s gaze caught Ron and Harry’s with a quick flick of excitement before they went back to Professor Moody. She was really feeling the anticipation everyone else had been feeling now. She didn’t much like being babied either, and to be able to witness actual dark magic from an _auror,_ and a good one at that, from what she’d heard around the school.

   “So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?”

   Kim had a few ideas, the obvious ones, but she didn’t put her hand up. She was too jittery with nervous excitement. Ron, on the other hand, had raised his hand, though he did look a bit trepidatious, which only grew clearer when Moody pointed to him.

   “Er,” he said, lowering his hand, “my dad told me about one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?”

   “Ah, yes,” said Moody. “Your father _would_ know that one. Gave the ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse.”

   Professor Moody moved to open a trunk behind him a pull out a glass jar containing a large black spider. Ron recoiled slightly, making a face of disgust to which Kim looked at him questioningly. He didn’t seem interested in responding, but when she glanced at Harry, a question still on her features, he breathed, “He hates spiders,” just barely audible.

   Kim let out a snort as she tried to stifle a laugh just as Moody said “ _Imperio!”_ She looked up, realizing immediately that her unconcealed laughter had no doubt made it to his ears. She wasn’t smiling now.

   “Think it’s funny, do you?” he asked, and he flicked his wand, making the spider leap across the small distance between his desk and Kim’s. It rose onto its back legs as Kim leaned back, jaw clenched and body tense. She wasn’t afraid of spiders, but she was admittedly a bit afraid of Moody, who currently controlled the thing. He made it begin to do a tap dance, but no one was laughing. The sharp edge in the professor’s tone and the glare he had pointed at Kim left the room chilled to the bone and silent as a grave.

   “You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?”

   Kim swallowed and tried to find her tongue. “No sir,” she said quieter than she would’ve liked.

   “Total control,” he continued as the spider balled itself up on Kim’s desk and began to roll over. “I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…”

   Kim gave a careful glance at Ron beside her who was cowering away from the spider, leaning completely onto Harry on his other side. She grimaced and looked back to her desk where the spider performed against its will.

   “Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of there own free will.

   “The Imperius Curse can be fought and I’ll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone’s got it,” he said, lowering his wand so the spider relaxed. “Better avoid being hit with it if you can. _Constant vigilance!”_ he yelled, making Kim and the rest of the class jump. “Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?”

   Kim wasn’t about to say another word with the spider still sitting on her desk, though her body had relaxed quite a bit, as had her fear. It was just a demonstration, after all. This was something she needed to see. Needed to be prepared for. Especially if things really _were_ going to be changing, like Aunt Brit had said.

   “There’s one- the Cruciatus Curse,” said Neville Longbottom. Kim didn’t know him very well, but from the Divinations class she’d had with him the year before, he didn’t speak out much, and was a bit of a klutz.

   “You’re name’s Longbottom?” Moody asked with more attention than seemed necessary for a seemingly mundane question. Neville nodded as Moody checked the roster, but didn’t ask anything farther. He scooped the spider off of Kim’s desk and placed it on his.

   “The Cruciatus Curse. Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea,” Moody said, flicking his wand at the spider. “ _Engorgio!_ ”

   The spider grew to be about twice it’s original size, so what was already a large tarantula sized thing was now far bigger than any muggle spider. Ron, unable to contain himself now, pushed himself away from the desk, which would have made Kim laugh some more if she didn’t know what was coming next.

   “ _Crucio!”_ came Moody’s voice without warning. Kim turned her attention to the spider to watch its legs curl up and writhe about its body as it rolled onto its back. It twitched horribly, and Kim had a hard time keeping her eyes steady on it, but she forced herself. _There are those out there who do this to people. To beings,_ Kim thought, remembering her lessons on beings from the day before.

   “Stop it!” cried Hermione. Kim couldn’t say she blamed her. Moody did stop, and he reduced the size of the spider back to its original form.

   “Pain,” he said softly. “You don’t need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciate Curse… That one was very popular once too…Right… anyone know any others?”

   Kim knew of only one more forbidden curse that belonged among the others, but no one else seemed ready to offer it up. She looked to her right, where Hermione was looking at her hand on the desk, inching it forward and then stopping as if waring with herself about whether or not to say the obvious answer. _We have to learn,_ Kim thought. _We have to be prepared. Ignorance won’t protect us from these things, no matter how terrible._

   She looked forward at the spider on Moody’s desk, knowing the fate she was sentencing it to with her next words. Somehow they managed to come out clear and even. “Avada Kedavra.”

   Moody’s eyes swiveled to her, looking pleased. “Ah,” he said. “Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra… the Killing Curse.”

   Professor Moody moved himself around the desk as several people looked uneasily at Kim, which she stared pointedly ahead to ignore. She clenched her jaw and watched as Moody raised his wand.

   “ _Avada Kedavra!_ ” he roared. The angry green bolt that leapt from the end of his wand made Kim’s heart hiccup painfully in her chest with an uncontrollable clenching fear as a sound akin to an electrical shock forcing its way through the air cut the silence. The spider went rigid for a moment and then fell, slack, dead. The class gasped, many stifling cries behind sleeves of their robes. Ron had stumbled back from his seat as the spider had slid and inch toward the edge of Moody’s desk and toward him, causing quite a clatter. Moody swept the now dead spider onto the floor like it was trash for the house elves to pick up.

   “Not nice,” he said calmly. “Not pleasant. And there’s no counter curse. There’s no blocking it. Only one known person ever survived it, and he’s sitting right in front of me.”

   Kim looked over at Harry, knowing that he was of course the wizard Moody was referring to. He seemed a bit tight, uncomfortable. Then again, of course he did. The whole class was staring at him once more, big surprise. Kim shifted forward in her seat, not wanting to partake in the unnecessary gawking.

   The rest of class was spent going over details of the Unforgivable Curses during witch Moody explained that such curses are not necessarily easy to use, and that they involve mostly the _will_ to actually do such harm to another person more than anything. He occasionally shouted out his favorite phrase, _constant vigilance,_ with gusto and by the end of the lesson it was only just ceasing to make Kim jump each time.

   “I can’t _believe_ a professor would perform the Unforgivable Curses in front of a class,” Hermione said to them as they left the classroom.

   Kim shrugged. She didn’t want to start an argument, but she didn’t agree. “It was terrible, but… they’re terrible curses. It’s a class about Dark Arts, we should at least know what they look like.”

   “How can you say that?” she retorted.

   “Think about it, Hermione,” Kim said. “What if we face them one day in the real world? We need to be ready!”

   “There Unforgivable for a reason, that won’t happen—”

   “It could happen,” Harry interrupted. “If Voldemort’s coming back.”

   Hermione heaved a great sigh and hurried off up ahead to Neville who was staring at the stone wall with a horrified look. Ron and Harry stayed beside Kim for a moment.

   “What’s with her?” Ron asked, to which Kim just shrugged. She understood Hermione’s point, she just didn’t agree.

   “Some lesson, though, eh?” Ron encouraged as they headed for the Great Hall. “Fred and George were right, weren’t they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn’t he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just _died,_ just snuffed it right-” but Ron cut himself short when he caught a glimpse of Kim’s meaningful wide-eyed glare. He then followed her pointed gaze to Harry, who was looking fixedly at nothing, as if he was seeing ghosts inside his own mind.


	5. Leprechaun Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION READERS: Something odd happened with the chapters somewhere along the way. If you've been reading as I post weekly, it's possible that this chapter, Chapter 5 Leprechaun Gold, was skipped over. Not really sure how that happened, and I don't know if it was posted originally and then there was a glitch with AO3, or if I just made a mistake on my end and it was never posted at all. Regardless, the following chapter was meant to be chapter 5 even though it wasn't posted until much later. My apologies for any confusion!

Chapter 5

Leprechaun Gold

   Kim slouched into a library chair across from Hermione without giving a proper look at what she was doing there. Hermione had been cooped up in the library all week, and Kim had a preoccupied mind, thinking about the upcoming dance, boys, and specifically the twins. She hadn’t talked to them much in the past week mostly because they’d been slinking off to consort together, and also because she had no idea what to do about their attempts to enter themselves in the deadly competition. Kim was just about to try and bring all of this up with Hermione, her reason for coming to the library in the first place, when she saw that there were stacks of parchment cutting themselves up beside her while she wrote something out on small, round pieces.

   “What are you doing?” Kim asked, peering down at the round papers that had S.P.E.W. scrawled across them.

   “Making badges. I’m glad you’re here. You can help,” she said sliding across a new batch of round papers that had just finished carefully, and magically, cutting themselves out.

   “What do you want me to do?” Kim asked, taking an extra quill from Hermione’s bag on the table and sliding the ink between them.

   “Just like I’m doing, write S-P-E-W, just like I have,” she instructed, holding up a finished one. Kim began going to work.

   “What are these for?” she asked. “What is spew?”

   “ _S-P-E-W_ is the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.”

   “Uh… alright.”

   “I’ll explain. House elves are terribly mistreated. I had no idea how bad it was, but then I started doing some research, and it’s just awful. Did you know they use house elves here at Hogwarts?” she said, sounding applaud.

   “I did not,” Kim said mildly, starting on another badge.

   “They cook, they clean, and they’re made to follow very strict rules of uniform and living… all for no pay. They’re essentially _slaves._ And it’s wrong.”

   Kim cleared her throat and shifted. She did know quite a bit about house elves, being a magical creature as they were. But she hadn’t given a large amount of thought into their situation since she had never been close with anyone who actually _had_ one. She herself hadn’t ever even seen one. Still, some of what Hermione had said seemed a bit off, and Kim couldn’t help but wanting to set her strait, even if she had a sense that what she was about to say was not going to sit well with her.

   “I don’t know,” Kim began slowly, trying to be gentle. “It seems to me, from what I’ve learned in my studies of house elves, that they actually _like_ to be… well in the possession they’re in. I read that the worst punishment a house elf can be given is to be set free by presentation of a piece of clothing. So, you see, their strict clothing rules, their life style… it seems it might be more by choice. It’s hard to understand, I get that, being muggle born and all. It’s weird to me too. But they just don’t have the same drive for independence that humans have, as a species.”

   “It’s not _hard to understand,_ ” Hermione said, and it seemed like she was going through some effort to sound calm. “It’s simply not true.”

   Kim couldn’t help her face from screwing up. She looked up from her writing. “Based on what, Hermione? Come on, be factual here.”

   She looked a bit flustered as she searched around angrily for an answer. “Based on the fact that I’ve _met_ house elves that wanted freedom.”

   This stopped Kim. She sat up strait and thought, looking up at the top row of the bookshelf. “You have? Oh… Well, I’ll admit I haven’t met a house elf before. What are they like?”

   “Well… I’ve only technically, _actually_ met one house elf, and she was quite a bit like what you described. She was very distraught when her employer fired her _for no reason_. _But_ Harry knows a house elf that is free, and he likes it very much, you can ask him! Harry helped him get his freedom, and he definitely wanted it. He used to be the Malfoys.”

   Kim mulled all this over, thinking about her little knowledge of the house elf. The possibility of a house elf that _did_ actually want freedom swayed her a little at first. And then a little more. She could feel her paradigm shifting around the situation as her mind turned.

   “If house elves _don’t_ want to be servants, if they _don’t_ want to work for free… if that’s just the situation that they’re in and they can’t imagine it any different because that’s how it’s always been… well, that changes everything, doesn’t it…” she pondered allowed, folding her arms over her chest.

   “Exactly!” Hermione said, sounding rather ecstatic about it.

   Kim remembered her Magical Creatures of Intelligence class from earlier that week, and how house elves had been brought up. They, like most of the magical creatures considered beings in the wizarding world, had no say on the way they were being governed, even though that was part of the definition that supposedly defined ‘being’.

   “They should certainly get to choose for themselves,” Kim reasoned, going back to her work with more vigor. “If they want to be free, they should be allowed. If they want to work without pay and continue how they are, I guess they should be allowed to do that too. But someone should ask them, you know?”

   “Yes, and I’m _positive_ that once they’re presented with the option of freedom they won’t turn it away. Things have got to change, and it starts here.”

   Kim and Hermione worked quietly across from each other, at first writing out the titles on the badges, and then assembling them. Then, the real reason Kim had come to the library in the first place came to her mind.

   “Hermione… I’m worried about Fred and George.”

   She let out a sharp breath of air through her nose. “What are they into this time?”

   “It’s this Triwizard Tournament nonsense. I worried what will happen if they get into it somehow.”

   “They won’t get in,” Hermione reassured, shaking her head and blinking slowly.

   “I’m not as sure,” Kim said with a shrug. “They’re smart. Smarter than most give them credit. I’ve seen them do spells, _invent_ things. You know most wizards of their age would never dream of inventing a potion or a spell, that’s way above the skill level most wizards get in their _lifetime_. What if they find a way?”

   Hermione’s neutral features dented slightly.

   “Don’t get me wrong, I know they can handle themselves, and I don’t really think it would be that bad for them to be in the contest itself… but if they get in and they’re competing against each other… I’m just worried the competition will go to their head.”

   Hermione looked at first as if she hadn’t understood, and then smiled knowingly, closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly. Kim just frowned at her with confusion.

   “Kim, it’s called the _Tri_ wizard tournament because only _three_ wizards compete. Only one from each school.” Kim’s features went from confused to open with realization. “ _If_ they somehow got into the goblet of fire, only one of them would get selected!”

   Kim smiled at her own stupidity and shook her head, looking down at her lap and touching her hand to her forehead.

   “Wow, I must have just missed that detail,” Kim said with a laugh. She was surprised by the amount of relief that unwound her body. The boys couldn’t both enter the competition, even if they managed to get past the age restriction. Only one of them could make it in, and while she was sure the other might be touchy about losing out against his brother, she couldn’t imagine it being anywhere near the terrible outcome she was imagining if they had to compete against each other.

   “That makes me feel a lot better,” Kim said as she stood.

   “Look, we’re all done!” Hermione said happily. “You want to come with me to show Ron and Harry?”

   “Um, you go ahead. I’ve got something I want to do.” She headed off, starting for the Gryffindor Tower to ask the Fat Lady if Fred and George were already inside. Finding them if they were out and about around the castle would be hard enough as it was, but it would be impossible if they were inside the common room. That, and she was less than certain the Fat Lady would cooperate with her.

   But as it turned out, she didn’t have to worry about any of that, because as she walked the steps up to the portrait, Fred and George came out of it.

   “Oh, you’re here,” Kim said with pleasant surprise.

   “Oh, er… Hi Kim,” Fred said, moving his hand behind his back. Kim watched it with arched brows.

   “What are you doing?” she asked, immediately suspicion. _It must their latest scheme to get past the age limitation,_ she thought.

   “Nothing,” George said, managing to sound light but there was a tightness around his eyes. They walked around her and Fred moved his hand around to the front of him so Kim still couldn’t see what was held in it as she turned to follow them down the stairs.

   “Noting my ass,” Kim retorted.

   “Really, a lady should—” Fred started

   “Don’t start with me, I know you’re just stalling,” Kim interrupted.

   “What makes you so sure we’re up to anything?” George asked.

   Kim snorted. “For one thing, it’s you. For another, I _know_ you,” she said in his ear. He leaned away bristling as goosebumps raised on his neck. Kim was surprised by the reaction, but she carried on anyway. “I know when you’re fibbing about something, and right now you’re doing it to _me._ Why.”

   Fred heaved a large sigh. “Don’t ’spose there’s much point,” he muttered to George.

   “Seems not,” George agreed.

   They slowed and turned to face her, now in a mostly empty hallway. Fred looked over his shoulder to insure they wouldn’t be heard, and both of them looked uncharacteristically apologetic.

   “Know how we gambled on that prediction you sent us?” Fred asked, and Kim nodded. “And we won?”

   Kim nodded again, but she stopped herself short and looked wide eyed from brother to brother. “You’re not in trouble are you?”

   George shook his head as Fred said, “No, it’s not that. The money the bellend gave us was fake.”

   Kim’s face fell to neutral. “What?”

   “It was all fake,” George repeated. “We didn’t realize it until we got to Hogwarts because we’d packed it all away. At first we thought we lost it… then we realized it was leprechaun gold, which disappears. So we’re writing the git a letter to try and get the money he owes us.”

   “A letter to-…” Kim thought about all this. Fake money, gamblers, wizards with tempers drinking at a quidditch match. Suddenly she was imagining a very dangerous situation. “Wait a second, let’s think about this. First of all, is it even… _fair_?”

   “What do you mean?” Fred asked, sounding defensive.

   “I just mean,” Kim said in a hushed voice, “I _saw_ what was coming, so I mean… is it really fair to bet with that—

   “ _Of course_ it’s fair. Besides, we didn’t know if it was true or not!”

   “Not to say we didn’t put stock in ‘ya,” George added.

   “Right, but… to be honest, we thought you might be crazy.”

   “You know how uncommon it is for a seeker to catch the snitch when his team doesn’t have a proper lead?” George asked.

   “It’s very rare,” Fred answered before she could even open her mouth. “But, since Krum’s not all that well known for being the _brightest_ of players, even though he’s a bloody brilliant seeker, we figured maybe it was possible.”

   “If not highly improbable,” said George.

   “But we put our bet on you anyway.”

   “Awe,” Kim said with a quick shrug and a smile. “Thanks guys.”

   George smiled fondly while Fred pursed his lips, unamused.

   “Great lot’a good it’s done us,” he griped. “But, there’s hope.” He held up the roll of parchment that he had been trying to conceal from Kim.

   “Is that the letter? You didn’t threaten this man, did you? Oh god, tell me he’s not a goblin.”

   “No, no, he works for the Ministry,” Fred said.

   “And we didn’t threaten him. Here, show her the letter,” said George. Fred handed Kim the paper and she hastily unfolded it.

_Ludo Bagman,_

_Hope this letter finds you well. We are writing you in regards to a rather unfortunate finding we came across the other day. The gold you gave us is actually leprechaun gold rather than real wizarding currency as we’d thought. As I’m sure you know, leprechaun gold is useless so you see the real bind that leaves us in! We’re sure this is some great misunderstanding, and we hope to get it straightened out soon._

_Best wishes,_

_Fred and George_

   Kim was completely taken aback by the polite manor of the letter. She lowered it from her face with one eyebrow raised and her eyes wide with surprise.

   “Wow… this is way more reasonable that I expected,” she muttered and then looked at Fred.

   “We figure there’s a small chance it was really a mistake.”

   “And a bigger chance he was trying to fool us and expecting we would just put it away in savings somewhere and not notice until it was too late,” said George.

   “And an even _bigger_ chance that the bugger was scamming all over the quidditch match and he gave us this so he could make his escape, so no matter what kind of letter we write him it won’t matter,” said Fred a bid despairingly.

   “But we’re holding out hope,” George reminded them all.

   “You figure start out pleasant, hope he gives you the gold easy,” Kim reasoned allowed. “Yes, that makes sense. But you really aren’t playing up the sap here guys, there’s really more to give.”

   “What do you mean?” Fred asked incredulously.

   “Well you’ve got the right idea with this here, ‘you see the real bind that leaves us in’ but you could take the sympathy vote much farther.”

   Fred and George looked at each other skeptically.

   “This one. She’s speaking in code,” Fred grumbled.

   “Does this mean we have to rewrite it, _again_?”

   “Is it worth the gold?” Kim asked, hands on her hips. The boys looked at each other again and quickly led Kim into a spare classroom and scrounged around for a bit of scrap parchment and an ink well. Once all was acquired they started away, following Kim’s instructions on how to ‘puppy up’ the letter as she called it, pausing every now and again to argue about the lines. Finally it read like this:

_Ludo Bagman_ _,_

_Hope this letter finds you well. We are writing you in regards to a rather unfortunate finding we came across the other day. The gold you gave us is actually leprechaun gold rather than real wizarding currency as we’d thought. As I’m sure you know, leprechaun gold is useless so you see the real bind that leaves us in! What you might not know is we bet all our life savings on that match. We were low on money as it was, but we were hoping for a stroke of luck to give us what we needed to realize our dream of starting our own business. With those winnings we could make that happen. We’re sure this is some great misunderstanding, and we hope to get it straightened out soon._

_Best wishes,_

_Fred and George_

   Kim read over the letter and felt her amused features go slack. She had instructed them to vaguely put in more sentimental bits, but she hadn’t realized exactly what they’d said.

   “Was it really your whole life savings?” she asked feeling drained suddenly, and defeated. She’d known the two of them had been saving up money for a small shop of sorts, something to get them started selling trinkets out of Hogwarts. But how serious about it were they, she wondered.

   “Yeah,” Fred said with a shrug, trying not to sound as crestfallen as Kim did. “Real hard lines, isn’t it?” he added with a rueful edge to his voice, like he was trying to be light but Kim could hear the tightness in it.

   “I feel awful,” Kim said, leaning against the desk as if her body suddenly weighed too much for her legs to support.

   “It’s not your fault,” George said. “Besides, we’ll get it back. I’m sure Bagman wouldn’t want to sully things with Dad. He’s friends with him after all.”

   Kim let out a labored breath. “I- I just feel like I got you into this mess. If it weren’t for me and that stupid prediction you wouldn’t have bet all your money.”

   “We probably would have,” Fred said plainly.

   “If it weren’t for your _brilliant_ prediction, we wouldn’t have won loads of money. More we wouldn’t be that much closer to our _dream_ ,” George said, placing his hand on Kim’s shoulder and giving her a gentle shake when he said the last word. Kim couldn’t help the tender smile that took her lips as she looked up at him.

   “Is starting the business really your dream?” she asked them in a quiet tone.

   “Well-” George stammered as the brothers looked at each other a bit sheepishly and then said together, “Yeah.”

   “It’s what we’ve always wanted,” Fred said, sure sounding.

   “Just never knew we’d actually go for it.”

   “Speak for yourself,” Fred said with a smirk.

   George rolled his eyes. “Yeah, of course _you_ always knew we’d go for it. What don’t you know, Fred?” he said sarcastically.

   Kim smiled at them, shaking her head lightly. “Well, I honestly don’t know what else I pictured you two doing… And it’s not as if you’re not good at it,” she chuckled. “C’mon, let’s get this letter sent so we can get that money back.”

   And with that they were off the owlery.

* * *

   “Come on,” Fred encouraged, tossing the broom at Kim, “it’s just like learning to walk.”

   “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” George reassured her.

   “Yes, nothing to worry about except falling to my possible death,” Kim retorted taking the broom and sitting on top of it awkwardly. She had put on a pair of jeans for this occasion, and while she wanted to learn to fly, she was also a bit terrified. Fred and George had convinced her it was well past time she learn since pretty much every wizard in Europe could fly on a broom by age 12, even if they were muggle born, and even if they were mediocre at it. After conceding to their insistence, the three of them had come to the quiddich field with a spare broom from the Gryffindor team storage.

   “Why is this normal?” she complained, trying to get comfortable against the stick to no avail.

   “Kim, you’re not going to fall, and if you do, you’re not going to die. Honestly, woman, you’re being dramatic,” Fred said, hopping on his own broom and lifting into the air before her like it was the easiest thing in the world. Kim huffed, watching him.

   “You really think we would let you fall?” George added, making Kim’s gaze dart over to him. Their eyes met as he climbed onto his own broom and she found herself looking over his features. They were a bit different then Fred’s, but only to the very well trained eye. Fred had a slightly broader face that always wore a knowing expression. George’s features were just slightly more gaunt and angular, the shadows of light playing across him differently than his brother. He glanced down after their eyes had been roaming along one another’s paths for some time, a timid smile across his face. Kim swallowed and looked away, heat rising in her cheeks.

   “What are you waiting for?” Fred asked, eyeing the two of them suspiciously.

   “Right,” George said, clearer now. “The broom is going to want to lift you off the ground on its own. All you have to do is make sure it doesn’t go too fast. Like so,” George said, and just after he finished he started to ebb away like Marry Poppins.

   “Oh, it’s that easy, is it,” she said with a bit of mania in her tone. She gripped her loaner broom probably far tighter than she was supposed to. She could feel her feet getting tugged from the ground, but _they_ didn’t want to lift off no matter how much the ground wanted to allow it. She took a deep breath and focused on relaxing the muscles in her legs, and then allowed her mind to accept the idea of lifting off the ground. And then she felt her feet leave the earth.

   She opened her eyes with a start. “Oh my,” she gasped, already a few feet off the ground and still going. “How do I stop?”

   “Relax,” George said, swooping down to hover beside her. She was still steadily rising upward.

   She then felt a hand against her shoulder and she stopped moving. Fred and swooped to her other side and was holding her steady like she was a balloon. She glanced at him nervously as he started to chuckle, which made her laugh too despite herself.

   “I’m letting go,” he said.

   “No!”

   “I’m letting go,”

   “No, seriously don’t!” But his hand was already lifted off her, splayed beside his head with wiggling fingers in a taunting wave. Kim wavered for balance on the uncomfortable broom, but she didn’t rise. She let out a sharp laugh.

   “See?” said George. “Not so hard.”

   She bit down and moved the grip of her fingers forward slightly on the broom. Taking a deep breath, she leaned in. She started to move forward, faster than she would have liked, and much less steadily. It was very difficult to keep her balance and she was gaining 1,000 pounds of respect for Harry and the twins with every second that she managed to stay atop the broom.

   “Practically a natural born flyer,” Fred joked.

   “Don’t know if I’d go that far,” George said back, but his voice was growing distant. She made the mistake of looking over her shoulder. They were much farther away already than she’d expected, and the motion of twisting to look over her shoulder, and the disorientation of it all, threw her already unstable balance completely off. She teetered to the side and wobbled until her center of weight was _not_ over the broom. With a squeal she slipped off, trying to grip the handle but her fingers were slick with nervous sweat. The wood left her fingers almost instantly and she was plummeting, air rushing past her, and all she could think was the ground was moments away, and her legs were beneath her, and it was going to hurt very badly when they snapped.

   Then she was hit from the side by a soft and yet hard force that seemed to encompass her, wrapping around her back and under both her arms. She was no longer falling but moving to the side and down at the same time. She realized that the twins had rushed forward to catch her, one on each side, but they were terribly lopsided now with the effort to hold her up with one arm and stay attached to their brooms with the other. They were still aimed for the ground, and it was coming very fast.

They hit with a skid and a roll, and then many tangling limbs, groans, and cries. After a moment of stillness, Kim let out a breath of held air and opened one of her eyes, since the other was mashed into fabric. She was lying face down, her left leg was stuck under Fred’s armpit, her head was on George’s chest, while his knee was jabbing her rather painfully in the ribs and Fred was spewing out dust all over her side.

   “Thanks for that,” she groaned, trying to move, but most of Fred was still on her leg.

   “You’re welcome,” Fred answered sarcastically, because from her tone he’d guessed she’d meant for the spitting thing, not for the saving her thing. Which, now that she thought of it, she should probably thank them for also.

   “I told you I’d fall,” is what came out of her mouth instead, trying to cover her own embarrassment. She attempted to push herself up again, this time from the torso up, pressing her hands into the ground and pushing her head off George’s chest while her leg was still trapped. Her eyes met George’s who was starting to sit up onto his elbows.

   “I told you we’d catch you,” he said calmly.

   Kim bent her head to the side. “True to your word,” she said a bit sheepishly, with her face hovering alarmingly near to his. Finally Fred rolled off her leg so that she could sit up the rest of the way.

   “You know how long it’s been since I’ve crashed a broom?” Fred asked, beginning to stand.

   “How long?” George asked, also getting up as Kim sat back and rubbed her elbow.

   “No, I was seriously asking you. I can’t remember the last time,” Fred pondered and then shot Kim a look. She held out her hands as if to ask what.

   “I _told_ you I was going to fall!”

   “Everyone falls their first time,” George reasoned. “It’s just usually you’re first time’s when you’re 8 and 50 pounds,” he said, reaching out a hand to hoist Kim to her feet. She took it, and they all agreed she’d had enough of a flying lesson for that day. They tried twice more over the course of September, though it was quite clear to Kim, and as she suspected to the boys as well though they continued to be nice about it, that flying was _not_ a strong suit of hers.


	6. Odd but Lovely

Chapter 6

Odd but Lovely

   The end of October was nearing, which meant so was the Triwizard Tournament. With the twin’s letter sent and nothing they could do for their business but wait, all their attention was turned to the age limitation, and how to get past it.

   “It’s going to have to be a bloody good potion or spell, whatever you do, if you’re going to fool Dumbledore,” Kim said to them both as they sat in a circle outside.

   “Look at you, sayin’ English things like bloody,” Fred said, giving her shoulder a nudge. Kim blushed remembering what her mother had said about her sounding English. She hadn’t done it on purpose, it’d just slipped out. She fiddled with some grass as Strix fluttered about and landed on the end of Kim’s shoe.

   “Since when were you going along with all this, anyway?” George asked.

   “I don’t care what you guys try to do, as long as you promise me one thing,” she said, warningly, looking between them. Strix hopped and flapped her small wings, landing on George’s leg beside Kim’s foot. George looked down at the small bird and gave her stomach a little pet with his knuckle.

   “What’s that?” Fred asked.

   “You two can try all you will to get into the tournament, and I’ll even _help_ you, as long as you promise not to drag your brother and Harry into it.”

   “Why not?” George asked, more curious and accusatory.

   “They’re not any more ready for it than I am. Harry’s a good wizard, and maybe he could handle it… _maybe,_ but it’s just not fair to go up against other wizards that have been practicing magic for twice as long.”

   “Fine, have it your way,” Fred agreed with a shrug.

   “We probably weren’t going to share the glory with our brother anyway,” George joked. Srix hopped and flapped again, this time landing on Fred’s leg, facing away from him to look up at Kim. He leaned back a bit, as if to distance himself from his own leg and the bird. Strix’s head slowly turned, and then continued turning until it was completely backwards and pointed up at Fred. His look of mild concern grew more uncomfortable.

   “Kim, get this bird off me,” he said, not looking away from Strix. “It’s lookin at me like I’m lunch.”

   Kim chuckled at the ridiculous idea, since Strix was only half a foot tall, and Fred had to be over six feet tall by now.

   “Hey guys,” came Harry’s voice through Kim’s laughter. She looked up and saw him standing behind George. She almost said ‘speak of the devil’ but she wasn’t sure they would understand it. Was that an American colloquialism?

   Kim didn’t really have the chance to say anything, though, because just then Strix’s head snapped forward from her staring contest with Fred and swiveled toward Harry. She leapt from Fred’s knee, making him wince with pain from her claws.

   “Oh, not again,” Kim muttered, scrambling to get to her feet. By now this was practically a boring routine, and were it not for the face that she felt terrible for Strix’s irregular attacks on Harry, she’d probably just allow them to happen.

   Harry made a sound of vague frustration, and then forfeit. “Just have at it already!” he groaned, offering out his hand. Strix landed on it and took a forceful nip that made Harry wince. The bird then immediately dove off his hand and swooped back to land on Kim’s shoulder. Kim just sighed and let her arms hit her legs.

   “I’m sorry Harry,” she said halfheartedly. She didn’t know at what point the apology became insult to injury.

   “’S okay,” he said, but he sounded a bit annoyed, looking at the drop of blood sliding down the back of his hand before wiping it off on his trousers. “Wish I knew what I did to make her hate me.”

   “I do to,” Kim said with an effortful laugh. “But to be honest, she did it the first time she met you, remember? So who knows… She’s just a pain sometimes. You’re not the only one though.”

   “Really?” he asked. She wasn’t surprised that this was news to Harry. Until this summer when she bit Mrs. Baker, Kim had never had Strix try to bight anyone but him.

   “She did it to one other person this summer.”

   “Should really get a replacement for that one,” Fred said as he stood, to witch Kim gave a small gasp and looked at him, shocked. She moved her hands to cover Strix’s ears theatrically.

   “How could you _say_ that?” she demanded, saying the words in a hushed tone.

   “She bights, Kim,” Fred retorted.

   “Only people she doesn’t like! No offence Harry. You understand, you have Hedwig,” Kim said to him, and he shrugged, nodding as if he accepted her apology and acknowledged that he did in fact understand her defense of her owl.

   “I’m just saying—”

   “Apologize,” Kim demanded, pushing her shoulder with Strix on it toward Fred and removing her hands from Strix’s ears. Strix sat up a bit, expectantly. Fred sighed and clasped his hands in front of him, striating his back very properly as if in preparation.

   “Madam Strix, Head Mistress of the Consortium of Highest Owlyness; please accept my humblest of apologies. No other owls could ever possibly hope to live up to your plumage.”

   Kim couldn’t contain the snort that gave way to chuckles in her chest. She looked down at Strix who fluffed herself quite happily in response, and hopped up and down. George and Harry started laughing too, which made Fred laugh alongside them, and soon they were all rolling and stumbling in the grass, pretending they were all members of the Consortium of Highest Owlyness with exaggerated accents and verbose word choices.

* * *

   Finally the days of the tournament had arrived. It was Friday, and the students from the other schools were meant to be arriving sometime that night. It was still early afternoon and Kim had just gotten out of Charms. Students were supposed to get out of classes early that day to prepare to greet the new arrivals, but since she didn’t have an afternoon class that day, she wasn’t much enthused. She was considering going down to Hagrid’s hut to check on the blast ended skrewts’ progress when Fred and George bustled up to her in the hallway.

   “Kim!” Fred said.

   “Just the girl we’re looking for,” said Lee behind them. Kim frowned. She had the distinct feeling she was about to get wrangled into something.

   “We were hoping you could help us with something,” said George.

   “What?” she asked, rounding on the three of them.

   “We’ve been working on… you know,” Fred said. She did know. They’d been working on an ageing potion for some time know. It was quite an advanced brew, but she didn’t really doubt their abilities.

   “But we’ve come across a bit of a snag,” George said.

   “I’m no good at potions, you know that,” Kim said.

   “Oh, we know,” Fred said, with no hint of shame in his tone. Kim crossed her arms and pursed her lips but didn’t say anything. “We were more hoping you could help us get a particularly tricky ingredient.”

   “Fairy eggs.”

   “Fairy eggs?” Kim asked. “There not even rare.”

   “They are when Professor Snape’s guarding the supply cupboards like a blood hound,” Lee remarked.

   “He knows you’re steeling from him,” Kim said.

   “He probably _suspects_ ,” Fred said. “Anyway, I don’t think we’ll be able to get in there before it’s time for submitting our names for the tournament. We need those eggs Kim. We thought maybe this was your department of expertise, being magical creatures and all.”

   Kim sighed. She was aware of a patch of flowers near the forbidden forest that fairies liked to frequent, but she had no idea if they’d laid their eggs there.

   “I can try,” she allowed, to which they all burst into egregious sighs of thanks. “ _But_ I can’t make any promises. First of all, you’re really lucky. It’s the right time of year. Fairies don’t like the cold so they’ve probably just started to lay their eggs for the winter and die off. On the other hand, if there are still some alive, which is very possible, getting the eggs from their nests is going to be difficult.”

   “We know you can do it,” Fred said, smiling wildly.

   “Get at least a cup because the eggs have to be undamaged, so we’ll probably have to pick through them for the good ones,” George instructed. Kim nodded and turned to go.

   “Do you want our help?” Fred asked as she started to leave them.

   She turned and walked backwards away from them as she said, “No, no, you’ll just get in the way. I’ve got it.”

   With that she was through the front doors and turning to dash down the stairs. She didn’t have long before she was supposed to be meeting with the rest of the school to greet the other students’ arrival. She would get a knife, gloves, and a jar from Hagrid’s. She knew he wouldn’t mind.

   As it was, when she got there, he wasn’t home. Kim couldn’t help but find that rather odd, but she hadn’t the time to ponder on it. The sun was sinking toward the horizon. She hurried toward the patch of field beside the Forbidden Forest where she had seen fairies flitting about, cleaning themselves in the spring rain last year, and bathing in the summer sun. Now that it was late October however, the fairies would no doubts be cowering under leaves and combing each other’s tangled and frozen hair, if they weren’t dead already. She hoped they were all dead. Angry fairies were nasty things to deal with, especially without proper head gear.

   She spotted the bushes surrounded by shriveled and dead flowers. They seemed to be deserted, but of course they would seem that way at this time of year. She bent down a few feet away from the bushes and crouched near the surrounding dead flowers, peering up at the undersides of the leaves. Sure enough, dangling from the leaves were thick jelly-like egg sacks, pink and translucent in the setting sunlight. Kim skimmed the foliage around the bottom of the plants. It appeared deserted still, which she could only hope to be the case for the bush.

   She set her wand on the ground beside her and reached out the knife, scraping the egg sacks from the leaf and into the jar. She tried to do so carefully as to not damage any of the eggs, remembering what George had said. She had almost collected about a cups worth when she heard a rustling in the bushes. Her eyes growing wide, she scrapped off a few more with hast. She screwed on the lid, not sure if she had enough, but knowing she was out of time. Five or so fairies came darting out of the bush, buzzing angrily about her head.

   Kim fell back onto her rear, scrambling for her wand as she swatted at the fairies. They shot small curses at her that were not powerful, but smarted against her cheek when they hit, like little stings or bights. She managed to get to her feet with her wand, though she could hardly see with five angry fairies buzzing around her head.

   “ _Stupify_!” she shouted, trying to point her wand at the fairies, but they were darting around her in a dash of pink and yellow. Two of them flew back in a daze, but the others continued on with even more fury. Kim stumbled back against a tree and turned to dart into the darkness of the forest, trying to put some distance between her and the fairies so she could properly aim at them. She turned as she bounded backward into the forest, spotting the coupling of fairies flying at her, but before she could secure a steady aim at them, her ankle hit against something solid and she went tumbling backwards.

   “ _Stupify_!” she cried, but her wand was pointed at the tree branches by the time the blast came from her wand, and it hit nothing. Her spine slammed against the forest floor, knocking the air from her lungs, and the jar from her grasp. She watched it roll a few feet away, jostling the precious eggs as her lungs gasped uselessly for air. Then a fuming sucking sound made her look down at what had tripped her, and she caught a glimpse of it just before red fire blasted out of it’s rear.

   A three foot long blast ended skrewt, because that was how big they had gotten by now. They had grown quite a bit in the two months Hagrid’s class had been raising them. Kim’s eyes bulged as she realized the fire blast that had come out of the skrewt had hit her in the side of the leg, and in the next second she was hit with the searing pain. She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in air through her teeth, groaning as her leg pulsated and screamed with burning. When she opened her eyes the skrewt was lining itself up with her, stinger raised menacingly.

   “Oh no yeh don’,” came a thankfully familiar gruff voice as a massive hand swooped down to grab the skrewt by one of its ends just as it blasted off, sending sparks of fire into the tree tops that ignited and fizzled. Kim had grabbed her wand to defend herself against the skrewt, but it seemed the danger was momentarily managed, along with the fairies that were nowhere in sight. Perhaps they had been scared off by the blast-ended skrewt.

   “Wha’ are yeh doin’ out here?” Hagrid asked, looking at Kim. Then his eyes feel to her leg, burned and blistering bright red. “Oh no,” he breathed.

   “I’m alright,” Kim managed to say, though it felt quite a lot like every ounce of her blood was rushing to the tea plate sized swell on her leg. She scooted on the ground toward the jar and reached for it, looking momentarily at the contents to see that the eggs weren’t totally ruined.

   “What’s tha’ fer?” Hagrid asked as Kim attempted to shift to her hands and knees first.

   “Don’t worry about it. I’m assuming your skrewts got away.”

   “Well eh…”

   “I’m not supposed to be out here by now,” Kim worried, hoisting herself onto one leg and taking Hagrid’s outstretched arm for support, making sure to keep a safe distance from the angrily squirming skrewt in the other arm. It was almost dark now, the sun slipping behind the hills, and she knew she was supposed to be meeting with the rest of the school.

   “Oh god,” she breathed, squeezing her eyes shut. “That is not comfortable.”

   “I’ll bet,” Hagrid said. “It’s a righ’ nasty burn. Better be getting’ ya to Madam Pomfrey.”

   “Alright, but first we’ve got to put that thing back in it’s cage. Did you get the others?”

   Hagrid seemed a bit troubled by this question. “Eh, more or less.”

   He led Kim back to his hut and set her down next to slobbering fang. Now that the adrenalin of the situation was fully gone, her leg felt hotter than it had when it was initially burned, and her stomach was twisting uncomfortably from the pain.

   Finally Hagrid returned, and with one arm clutching his shoulder to hobble herself along, she was making her way up to the castle, jar of fairy eggs under her arm and wand in her pocket. They took a back entrance into the castle because all of Hogwarts was no doubt greeting the foreign students at the front. Kim was going to miss their arrival, which she was quite sour about. But at least her venture hadn’t been fruitless. She just kept picturing Fred and George’s excited faces when she showed them the eggs. _They better be grateful,_ she thought.

   By the time she was being tended to by Madam Pomfrey, who asked insistent questions about what exactly had happened that Kim and Hagrid somehow managed to just barley sidestep, it was well past dark. Kim could hear students making their way into the Great Hall.

   “You should go Hagrid, there’s no reason for me to keep you,” Kim said.

   Hagrid seemed torn. He clearly felt terrible for Kim’s leg. He stayed a bit longer before Kim could finally convince him that there was no good he could do here and that Madam Pomfrey would fix her up just fine.

   And she would, of course, but only after she properly harassed her about staying away from dangerous creatures. After cleaning the wound with a spell she was angrily mashing together some ingredients into a past, grinding them in her mortar and pestle. Kim watched as she rooted around for another ingredient, and then heard the doors to the wing open.

   “Heard you were in here,” came Fred’s caviler tone, but in his expression she saw he was sorry. He was carrying a plate of food with him, which he no doubt had pilfered from the Great Hall without asking, but she was also no doubt pleased he had done so. George was there beside him, his eyes sweeping over her body in a way that made her lean and pinch in self-consciously. When his gaze landed on her wound he looked in pain himself.

   “What happened?” he asked.

   “Got burned-” Kim began but was cut short by a shrill stinging in her leg that made her eyes bulge. Madam Pomfrey was lathering on a past over her leg thickly and then unraveling a bandage.

   “Who knew fairies were so dangerous,” Fred said with a hollow tone.

   “A fairy did _not_ do this,” Madam Pomfrey said, wrapping the leg tight. “You’ll be fine in an hour, dear. Just let the ointment sit, and _don’t_ scratch no matter how itchy.” Kim nodded and with that she clacked off.

   “I really am fine,” Kim said to the twins. “You heard her, I’ll be healed in an hour.”

   “We’re sorry we asked you to go after the eggs,” Fred said. He seemed far too sad for her, and she couldn’t spot why. Then her face lit up, realizing why they were so crestfallen.

   “You don’t think I managed it,” she said knowingly. They both looked up at her with a spark of hope in their eyes, and questions in their faces. She reached behind her to the table beside her bed and took the jar, half full with jostled, but still whole fairy eggs and presented it to the twins with a winning smile. Fred lit up, and George let a smile cross his face as well, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

   “You did it! I don’t believe it! George, you were wrong to ever doubt her,” he said clasping his brother’s arm and giving him a forceful shake as he took the jar from Kim and examined the eggs as if they were the Triwizard Tournament prize themselves.

   “I didn’t doubt her,” George retorted, smile fading just slightly. She looked at him, wondering what it was that was still bothering him. He looked at the bandage on her leg. Perhaps he _actually_ did just feel guilty for her injury in the line of duty. She was doing their dirty work after all.

   “I really am okay,” she said to him gently, his gaze shifting to her face. “Just kind of hungry,” she hedged with a smile. George smiled back and took the plate of food out of Fred’s hand as he reveled at the eggs in the other and gave it to Kim.

   “Thanks,” she said. As she ate her dinner in the wing and attempted to ignore the increasing itchiness that was creeping up her leg from under the bandage, the boys described the arrival of the other schools and the workings of the Goblet of Fire. They told her about Dumbledore’s age line, and how that night they would brew the potion that would hopefully break its enchantment.

   “Do you really think you can break it?” Kim asked. She didn’t know whether she believed it or not. The boys were good, but it was _Dumbledore’s_ enchantment. The more she thought about it, the less possible it seemed, but she certainly wasn’t going to spoil their fun.

   “Course we can!” said Fred, always sure of himself.

   “Don’t see why not,” agreed George. “You’ll see.

   “You sure you don’t want some? We’ve got enough supplies to make some for you.”

   “No,” Kim said, shaking her head. “I can hardly manage myself against a few fairies and a skrewt, I’d hate to see what would happen if I faced something crazy, like… like… a dragon or something-” she stopped herself shot. She had been fishing for something extreme, and a dragon had simply been the first thing to pop into her mind, but it reminded her of something else. A dream she’d had last year. Harry facing a dragon… certainly that couldn’t have been a premonition though. Even now it seemed farfetched, because Harry had no way of entering the tournament.

   “You’re not giving that potion to anyone else, are you?” she asked dangerously. Her tone caught the boy’s jovial spirit off guard.

   “Just Lee… why?” George said.

   “Jeeze, relax,” Fred said at the same time, “Here.” He tossed her a candy he had drawn from his pocket, presumably one he’d taken from the feast. Upon catching it, however Kim eyed it.

   “This isn’t going to make my tongue fall off or turn my hair green is it?” Kim asked, eyeing the candy suspiciously and looking up to Fred as he was turning to leave.

   “Never to you, love,” he said with a wink and a smirk as he headed for the door. George followed him, shooting him a slight frown before relaxing his features and stuffing his hands in his pockets. Kim was glad they were leaving, because her cheeks were getting hot and she really wanted to eat this chocolate but she didn’t want to admit she trusted them both fully. For some stupid reason. The burn on her leg and the fact that she’d had to _ask_ if this would do something terrible to her perhaps should clue her in that she had put her trust in the wrong place. But eyeing the chocolate again, she found she didn’t really have it in her not to believe them.

   And, alas, it was a salted caramel truffle with absolutely nothing odd about it. Except perhaps that it was her favorite, and it was odd they had bothered to get it for her. Odd. But lovely.


	7. The Champions

Chapter 7

The Champions

   Kim’s leg had healed up just fine, and by the next day she barely had the room in her brain to remember the pain. Many of the students had woken early for a Saturday with the excitement of wanting to find out who was going to put their name in the goblet.

   “I certainly wouldn’t. Even if I was 17,” Clemon reasoned.

   “I don’t think I would either,” Luna agreed. It was a rare day that the two of them agreed on something.

   “Jesus. It must be the apocalypse or something,” Kim muttered.

   “What makes you say that?” Clemon said.

   “Everyone’s up early on a Saturday. And you two actually agree on something,” Kim said. Luna almost never openly disagreed with Clemon about anything, so there was almost never any arguing. Just mild tempered half statements _implying_ disagreement that would be followed by Clemon being either passive aggressive or down right snide, and Luna pretending she hadn’t got an idea what was going on even though her eyebrow twitch clearly indicated that she did. Kim wished somedays they’d just draw wands and duel it out already, like boys might.

   Clemon rolled her eyes and Kim’s remark. “Just because _you_ like to have your lie in doesn’t mean everyone does, Kim,” she said, ignoring the other half of her statement entirely. Typical.

   After breakfast Kim went to the entrance hall where the Goblet of Fire sat with its blue circular age line drawn around it. Kim wondered if the twins were still off somewhere working on their potion. Clemon didn’t seem to want to stick around that much, but she also seemed hesitant to leave Kim, probably because she didn’t have many other friends of her own, and those that she did have were gathered around the cup too. Many students were, after all.

   Kim spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione nearby and walked to them, losing Luna somewhere along the way as she muttered something about spotting a nargle.

   “Hey,” Kim said cheerfully. “See anyone put their name in yet?”

   Ron shook his head. “We just got here.”

   “It’s just a matter of tossing it in, isn’t’ it?” Clemon said with more edge to her tone then necessary. She liked to do that, put a lot of edge in her tone. Kim knew it was because she got nervous around new people and felt a need to impress them, but it was rather annoying. “Not much to see,” she added, as if her already snide attitude needed a red charry on top. Or more, a sour lemon.

   Kim sighed, turning back to face Ron. “I guess,” she said flatly, looking blankly at Ron as she said it. He looked at her with bewilderment.

   “Nice friend ya’ got there,” he said, in the way that only Ron could, so that Clemon probably didn’t get the joke at all, but Kim couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. The corner of Ron’s lips flicked up in a responding smile.

   As if everyone found it funny, a burst of laughter came from behind them. Fred, George, and Lee came bounding into the entrance hall with excitement.

   “Done it,” he said, ringing the crux of his arm around the back of Kim’s neck gleefully and saying to the whole group with lifted eyebrows and a triumphant whisper, “Just taken it.”

   Kim laughed, pressing against his stomach with her fingers for him to release her. “It worked?” she asked.

   “Thanks to you,” George added.

   “What worked? What’d you take?” Ron asked, looking between them all.

   “The aging potion, dung brains,” said Fred.

   “One drop each,” George said, rubbing his hands together with glee. “We only need to be a few months older.”

   “We’re going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins,” said Lee, grinning broadly. Kim raised one eyebrow. _Split it evenly,_ she thought. Now that was a stupid idea, when only one of them had done all the work. This was a hair brained agreement concocted in the middle of the night, full of excitement and adrenaline. The potion wasn’t worth 1/3rd of the winnings! But, she reminded herself before she opened her mouth to say anything that the likeliness of any of them getting in was slim to none, at best.

   “That’s stupid,” came Clemon’s drawn voice. Kim winced. They all turned their excited, and now rather pointed gaze, on her. “ _If_ you could even get in, which is impossible, only one of you will actually earn the prize money. What’s going to stop you from turning on each other? I’m just saying… if I won all that money, there’s nothing that would make me want to split it with some _friend_ who helped me enter in illegally.”

   Kim’s lips hardened into a line as the boys all drew this terribly crashing thought in. And they were having such good fun. _Clemon, why do you have to spoil everything that isn’t yours,_ the thought boiled inside Kim. She took a step forward, head tilted just slightly to the side.

   “Clemon, you really need to learn when to lighten the fuck up,” Kim said in a quiet, even tone. The boys behind her erupted into an explosion of jeers as Clemon’s lips sucked into the tightest purse Kim had ever seen. It was as if she had actually eaten a lemon. She scowled at Kim and swirled on her heels, her black hair twirling in a gliding circle and she marched for the exit. Kim didn’t feel bad for it, not yet anyway. She was still too annoyed.

   “That’ll take care of that ol’ fanny,” Fred said, a bit harshly, but Kim didn’t care. Clemon was already out of ear shot anyway.

   “I could kiss you,” George said, and though he was only just managing to say it between his laughter, Kim still felt her heart start to pound.

   “Let’s get this over with already, shall we? Before someone hears all this racket,” Kim said.

   “Right,” Fred said, approaching the line. “C’mon then. I’ll go first.” He stood just before the shimmering blue line that cast an odd shadow over his features.

   “While she might be… an unfortunate sort of girl,” Hermione said under her breath. “She was right about one thing. I’m sure Dumbledore will have thought of this.”

   Kim shrugged and looked over her shoulder at her. “To be honest,” she whispered so the boys wouldn’t here, “I’m sure he has too, but why spoil it for them. It’s not as if they’re going to listen to reason anyway. Trust me, it’s not as if I didn’t try to tell them it was a bad idea.”

   Still, even with this there was a part of her that wondered if maybe it would work… Then George beside Kim let out a howl of triumph, making Kim whirl her head back around to spot Fred. He had passed over the line and was standing on the other side. _It worked!_ she thought for an instant as George leapt in after him. But the very next second there was a loud sizzling sound, and the twins were hurdled from the circle and skidded across the great hall, students clearing the way so they wouldn’t knock them over as they slid. They moaned once their bodies slowed and began untangling themselves from one another. Once they began to stand, Kim saw that the punishment was only just begun. From their faces, long white beards were beginning to grow.

   “Oh my,” Kim said, putting her hand to her mouth to stifle the smile that was creeping onto her face. They began dusting themselves off and in the proses caught a glimpse of each other’s faces.

   “What the-” Fred said, pointing at George’s face.

   “You too!” George said. The hall began to sweep with laughter. Kim walked around the edge of the line, not wanting to end up with a wispy white beard herself, to join them.

   “It didn’t work!” Fred said scornfully.

   “I don’t believe it,” George said, sounding down trodden.

   “I did warn you,” came a deep, amused voice. Kim whirled around right as she reached the twins to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He had a gentle smile and a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Fred and George. “I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours.”

   With this remark Kim cracked another smile, and Fred and George couldn’t help but chuckle. She walked with them, knowing that while they were laughing there was a real reason other than simple glory they had wanted to enter this tournament, though certainly that had been a large part of it too.

   Gold. Gold to help them start up their business if they couldn’t get it back from Ludo Bagman, though that was a possibility she didn’t think they had yet fully faced.

   “Don’t worry guys,” Kim said as they walked. “You won’t need the prize money once we get your winnings back from Bagman.”

   “Would’ve been nice though,” Fred said dreamily. “Not just the extra money, but the _glory_.” He shook his fist a bit in demonstration. He smiled and glanced down at Kim. “Ah well.”

   “Now that Bagman is here, maybe you’ll have the chance to talk to him face to face… I’m sure he won’t have the hart to turn you away if it’s a personal encounter,” Kim reasoned.

   They both agreed. Kim just hoped she was right.

   After seeing the twins to Madam Pomfrey, Kim spent the rest of the day with Strix out by the field of grazing abraxan. The massive winged horses had pulled in an equally massive carriage that the Beauxbatons students had rode in on. Fred and George had explained it to her in full detail, answering all of her hungry questions without complaint, but she was still disappointed that she missed it. Abraxan were extraordinary creatures and not ones Kim was likely to see again any time soon.

   “Clemon’s really upset, you know,” Luna said vaguely beside Kim, jolting her with a start and making her wobble where she was perched on top of the newly erected fence.

   “Yeah, I know,” Kim said, steadying herself and looking back out to the abraxans. Kim didn’t have time, really, to worry about that though. She was watching the horses, trying to calm the senseless waves of uneasiness that were churning in her gut, like a brooding storm, bidding ill for tides to come.

   “I don’t know exactly what happened between the two of you…” Luna continued, rocking back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels, holding the fence with her pale fingers. Kim just grimaced. She had more important things to worry about than Clemons sensitive ego. But _what_ things? What was it that was giving her this terrible sense of foreboding? The twins were no longer going to be entered into the tournament. They’d agreed to let no one else join in on their scheme, which was a failed one anyway. So why did she have a feeling that bad things were coming? She wished she had the supplies to meditate properly. She had visions from time to time in her sleep without meditation, but they were totally random and uncontrollable.

   “But she told me you swore at her…” Luna continued. Kim sneered. “I didn’t say, but I thought it was unlikely that was true, or at least that it was unwarranted.”

   Kim sighed, giving in. It was obvious that Luna wanted to hear her side of things. “I don’t know if it was _really_ warranted, I just got fed up. Clemon was being… well, you know how she is. And I usually can deal with it, but she was doing it to my other friends, so I snapped at her. She’s making a bigger deal than it is.”

   “Odd… Her words were that you _swore_ at her.”

   “I think my exact words were that she needed to lighten the fuck up,” Kim recalled nonchalantly. Luna tittered but then, with some effort, put her features back to serious when Kim looked down at her.

   “Oh, I see,” she said. “That is quite a bit harsh. Still, though… kind of funny,” she admitted. Kim laughed, to which Luna gave into a few chuckles as well. Kim did feel slightly bad for making fun of Clemon behind her back. If only Clemon could learn to laugh at herself a little, maybe she wouldn’t have such a hard time of things.

   Once the afternoon eked into evening, all the foreign students were filing their way back into the castle. Kim and Luna found their places at the Ravenclaw table, though Kim desperately wished she could sit with the Gryffindors for this reveal. She’d like to see a victor from either of the two houses be drawn, but mostly she wanted to convers about it with her other friends. Luna made good conversation, but not about these sort of things, and she didn’t think Clemon was going to sit with her.

   Much to her surprise though, Clemon did sit down in a rather stiff fashion and begin eating in silence once the feast began. The entire Great Hall was held taut in anticipation for the reveal of who would be drawn to compete, but Kim couldn’t help the suspicion that had nothing to do with Clemon’s behavior. Kim was too distracted to address it though. She was growing used to her churning uneasy stomach, but it certainly didn’t make it easy to eat.

   Finally the feast was done and it was time for the names to be drawn. After announcing that the time had arrived, and thusly unleashing a curtain of utter silence over the Great Hall, Dumbledore approached the Goblet of Fire. He stood a moment, waiting, gazing at the blue flame that billowed from its mundane wooden shape. In a flash that made Kim start the fire sparked and a tongue of flame shot into the air, spitting out a charred piece of parchment. The Great Hall, which had been holding its collective breath, gasped.

   Dumbledore caught the paper and held it towards the fire’s light as to read the scrawled hand writing.

   “The champion for Durmstrang,” he read loudly, “will be Viktor Krum.” The Hall erupted into applause as a burly looking Drumstang boy rose, stalky and a bit awkward on his feet with heavy set eyebrows and a nearly bald head. Kim clapped though she didn’t know who the boy was. The clapping didn’t quite cease, even after he had walked past the staff table and had disappeared through the door that lead into the next chamber, into which Kim had never seen.  

   Finally the clapping began to die down as everyone’s attention turned back to the cup. It sizzled once again, arching in the air and landing yet another smoking parchment in Dumbledore’s hands.

   “The champion for Beauxbatons,” he called, “is Fleur Delacour!”

   A very beautiful looking young woman rose with silky blond hair and perfect skin. Kim watched her with aw and a hint of suspicion, thinking there was something distinctly bewitching about her beauty, something not quite natural even.

   “I heard she’s a veela,” Clemon gossiped in Kim’s general direction. Kim supposed her urge to say something scandalously sour was too powerful to keep up her ruse of ignoring Kim. Kim’s immediate thought was to respond with _don’t be ridiculous,_ because of course she wasn’t a veela. That was plain to see by anyone who knew what a veela looked like. But she thought better of it, given the events of earlier that day.

   “I can see why,” Kim said instead, because that was also true. The rumor, while ridiculous, was founded in some validity. The girl did move and _look_ an awful lot like the beautiful creatures that had the power to bewitch men, and consequently ensnare them. But Kim had to clear away the thought and direct her gaze back to Dumbledore as the clapping died down again. It was time for the Hogwarts victor, and Kim was starting to feel excitement in her chest despite being nervous at the same time.

   “The Hogwarts champion,” he called, “is Cedric Diggory!”

   Kim recognized the name. It was the Hufflepuff seeker who had beaten Harry last year. Kim clapped obligatorily as he walked to the side room, but she wasn’t especially enthused, certainly not as much as some of the young girls at the Ravenclaw table. Kim waited in agony as the clapping raged on. Cedric was a handsome boy with golden brown hair, and a charming smile, and he seemed overwhelmed with joy at having won. Kim thought she might be sick with the twisting feeling in her gut. _Let’s just get on with it,_ she thought.

   “Well, we now have our three champions,” Dumbledore said. “I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering you champion on, you will contribute in a very real—

   But Dumbledore was cut off by a fizzling sound coming from the Goblet of Fire. Kim’s eyes turned to it immediately, following the professors alerted and arched browed gaze. Suddenly, the goblet flared once again, even though all the contestants had been chosen, and an arch of flame shot into the air. With an expression of almost mutiny, Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment that rocketed from the flame. He stared at the name for a long moment, the room drawn up as tight and silent as a newly screwed coffin.

   Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, “ _Harry Potter_.”

   Kim’s whole body froze. She had to have heard incorrectly. _Harry Potter? The one who is underage, the one who is my friend? The one who said he wasn’t going to put his name in?_ That _Harry Potter?_

   Dumbledore turned expectantly toward the Gryffindor table, thought there was an unmistakable tension over his brow. Kim stood to get a better look at Harry where he still remained sitting. He was whispering something unhearable to Ron and Hermione. He looked bewildered, dumbstruck even. _What’s going on?_ If he had managed to sneak past the age line, wouldn’t he be strutting up to the cup with pride? And why did the cup select more than one champion for Hogwarts? Just managing to get past the age line wouldn’t have done that… Something wasn’t right about this.

   “Harry Potter!” Dumbledore called again, more sternly this time. “Harry! Up here, if you please!”

   Whispers were erupting across the Ravenclaw table like bees had crawled out of every student’s mouth. _Harry Potter,_ they said, _He’s not 17, It’s him, How’d he get his name in, What a show off._ Kim was fairly sure this last remark was from Clemon, but she was too paralyzed and wrapped up in her own thoughts to know.

   Harry trudged his way up to the teachers table. _Does this even make sense for him?_ Certainly Harry was a teenage boy like the rest of them. Certainly he’d love glory and fame like anyone else. But wasn’t Harry the boy who Kim always watched get sucked into the center of a room, all eyes on him, and drown there, wishing to be anywhere else, shaking his head so his hair covered his scar? Again she was left with the same distinct conclusion; something wasn’t right about this.

   The teacher’s eyes were all on Harry, which meant they weren’t on the rest of the Great Hall. Kim stepped out of the bench.

   “Where are you going?” Clemon hissed, but Kim just shook her hand at her to get to be quiet. She darted quickly between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, crouching slightly and then looking up at the teachers to insure no one was looking her way before she dashed across the largest open expanse of the Great Hall. She made a bee line for Fred and George who were sitting near Ron and Hermione. She pressed her hands into their shoulders, making them twist with surprise.

   “If either of you are responsible for this, so help me,” she breathed. Upon spotting her they swept to either side instinctually, parting for her and making it possible for her to hastily sit between them before a teacher spotted her.

   “It wasn’t us,” they both said defensively.

   “Would’ve been brilliant if it was, though,” Fred remarked, making Kim shoot a squint at him.

   “It wasn’t us,” George repeated. “If it were, don’t you think we would’ve got ourselves in then?”

   “We like Harry, but not more than we like ourselves,” Fred reasoned. Kim looked over her shoulder, but by now the teachers had escorted Harry into the other room. Something was entirely off about this whole situation. Dumbledore had been in the middle of his finial speech, and the discovery of Harry’s name had ruffled him so much that he had never finished making it. Perhaps it was because he was disgruntled someone had managed to get past his defenses…

   Kim’s gut was still aching with discomfort, a dark feeling swirling in her chest, and she was sure this must be why.

   “Yeah, well, guess Harry thinks the same,” Ron grumbled, though Kim wasn’t really listening. “Thinks of himself more than his best friend.” At this Kim whirled around and gave Ron an incredulous look. But before she or Ron could say anything, Dumbledore spoke, many of the teachers filing into the competitors room behind him.

   “As I was saying, your champions have been chosen… Please, off to bed in an orderly manner,” was all he said in a stern, and yet somehow withered sounding voice. Then he was turning for the still open door and walking in, shutting it behind him. There were still a number of professor’s left at the staff table, so while pure pandemonium did not burst forth, it was close to that.

   “Well he could’ve got me past the line too! He knew I wanted to put my name in!” Ron gripped, continuing his prior thoughts.

   “Something else is going on here Ron,” Kim said, to which Ron screwed up his face.

   “Oh yeah. Somethin’ real fishy about it. Harry wanted to win the tournament like every other bloak in this school… he just happened to figure out how to do it. Only fishy thing is why he didn’t include me!”

   “Probably thought it’d be too dangerous for you,” Fred mocked, much to Kim’s disapproval. She could already sense this was more than just a sore spot for Ron, and anything the twins had to say about it was just going to make it worse.

   “Probably hoped to be your knight in shining armor,” George chimed in. They started to stand and make their way through the throngs of buzzing students and teachers who wanted to get them into their respective common rooms.

   “I’m worried. Something about this doesn’t feel right,” Kim muttered to the twins.

   “Are you kidding?” Fred asked.

   “I think it’s great!” agreed George. “If we couldn’t get into the tournament, at least a Gryffindor managed it! Like to know how he did it though…”

   The two of them then launched into a discussion on other possible methods that could have gotten Harry past the age line. Kim wasn’t listening though, and she soon left them to their bantering because she was off to the Ravenclaw tower and they to the Gryffindor. The gossip was even worse once she got there, because instead of being happy for Harry managing to break in, most were either scandalized or contemptuous about it. Kim tried not to listen to any of it as she sealed herself up in her bed and attempted to fall asleep, still with a rotten and festering feeling in her gut that something terrible was yet to come.


	8. Scrimmage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late!

Chapter 8

Scrimmage

   The next morning Kim’s stomach was still twisting into knots. She had hoped her dreams would give her a vision of something, reveal to her what was to come, but they gave her nothing. When she got down to the Great Hall she didn’t see the twins, probably sleeping in after partying all night. Harry was nowhere in sight either for that matter. Ron and Hermione were sitting across from each other and appeared to be in a bit of an argument, so Kim went over to sit beside Hermione.

   “…being ridiculous,” Hermione said. Ron just stared at his plate with a tight purse to his lips, like someone had put a bucket of salt over his eggs and was forcing him to eat it. Kim began loading her plate quietly beside them without making to interrupt. “How could Harry have entered himself, Ron? Forget whether he wanted to or not, he wasn’t _able_ to.”

   “I don’t know, all right?” Ron snapped. “And I don’t care to know.”

   Kim was glad at least that Hermione was being rational about this. She wasn’t looking forward to things if she was the only person willing to give Harry the benefit of the doubt. This also would give her someone else to discuss her worries with.

   “About all this, Hermione,” Kim said, “how _do_ you think his name got in the goblet?”

   Hermione’s expression folded inward with concerned. “I don’t know. I wish he would hurry up. I want to talk to him about it.” She stretched to look over Kim’s head and search the entrance of the Great Hall for any sign of Harry, but there was none.

   “Probably busy with all his admirers,” Ron muttered. Hermione made a faint sound of disgust and grabbed a napkin, standing. “Where are _you_ going?” Ron asked incredulously as she collected pieces of toast onto the napkin.

   “To find Harry,” she said simply. Kim stood as well, grabbing a sausage and a piece of bacon from her plate since she’d only managed to eat a few bites.

   “I’ll come with you,” she said, popping the sausage in her teeth like a cigarette and shuffling out from the bench. Ron scowled at them as they departed, and then went back to his eggs, still pondering them like they were infused with a mountain worth of salt. Kim and Hermione made their way up to the Fat Lady, at which point Hermione opened her mouth to say the password.

   “Ah!” she shouted, again raising an accusatory finger at Kim. “Not you again. How many times am I going to have to tell you, you don’t belong—”

   “I’m not trying to sneak in,” Kim said, exasperated. “I’m waiting outside.”

   “A likely story. Ah! And don’t you give away the password with her there,” she said, again interrupting Hermione before she could say the password. Hermione heaved a great sigh. Just then the portrait pushed open, causing the Fat Lady to give a little startled cry. Harry immerged from the common room, surprised to see them both standing there.

   “Hello,” Hermione said.

   “Er, Hi,” Harry said, eyeing Hermione’s toast stack, and then Kim as she bit off a piece of bacon. “What are you two doing here?”

   “I brought you this… Want to go for a walk?”

   “Good idea,” said Harry gratefully. The three of them went downstairs and out of the castle to stroll beside the lake while Harry recounted exactly what had happened while he was inside the other room with the professors. Evidently, Professors Moody, McGonagall, and Dumbledore were the only ones who believed Harry hadn’t put his name in the goblet, but it didn’t much matter who believed him. The magic was binding one way or another; Harry was required to compete. It was even suggested that perhaps someone had put Harry’s name in because they wanted Harry to get killed…

   Kim turned this idea over in her head, feeling an uneasy sensation in her chest. Certainly the games were dangerous, and she was very uncomfortable with the idea that Harry was going to be in them. But if killing Harry was someone’s intention, certainly there were easier ways to go about it, weren’t there?

   “Well, of course I knew you hadn’t entered yourself,” Hermione was saying as Kim mulled over all the information in her head. “The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who _did_ put it in? Because Moody’s right, Harry… I don’t think any student could have done it… they’d never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore’s—”

   “Have you seen Ron?” Harry interrupted. This shook Kim from her reverie and made her look at Harry. There were a lot of things more important than Ron’s whereabouts at the moment, and Hermione was trying to talk about them. She had some great points about students not possessing powerful enough magic to trick the goblet, and Kim thought now was the time to discuss that, _not_ discuss Ron. But Hermione was making a face of semi-discomfort and answering, none the less.

   “Erm… yes… he was at breakfast.”

   “Does he still think I entered myself?”

   “Well… No, I don’t think so…”

   Kim made a face. This was a lie, and kind of a silly one since Harry was bound to find out the truth eventually. Hermione seemed to realize this as she glanced at Kim and added, “not _really._ ”

   “What’s that supposed to mean, ‘not _really_ ’?”

   “Oh Harry, isn’t it obvious?” Hermione said despairingly. “He’s jealous!”

   “ _Jealous?_ ” Harry said incredulously.

   “Uh, yeah,” Kim said, as if it were obvious. Because it was.

   “Jealous of what?” Harry asked. “He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?”

   “I’d imagine that’s exactly what he wants to do, yeah,” Kim said with a snicker.

   “Look,” Hermione said patiently, ignoring Kim’s joking, “it’s always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it’s not your fault,” she added quickly because Harry looked like he was about to object furiously. “I know you don’t ask for it… but, well, you know, Ron’s got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you’re his best friend, and you’re really famous. He’s always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many…”

   Kim watched Hermione’s eyes search the path before her as she thought, her mind turning over her own observation and then shifting back to Harry compassionately. Kim couldn’t help but be impressed with her. It was quite an accurate and detailed observation, and felt just right. She was even a little awed that Hermione had picked up such subtleties, perhaps the slightest bit jealous she hadn’t said all this herself.

   “Great,” Harry said bitterly. “Really great. Tell him from me I’ll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he’s welcome to it… People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go…”

   Kim almost winced. This was the first time she’d ever heard Harry admit allowed how much he hated the spotlight that was always shined in his face. She wished again, as she had so many times before, that there was something more that she could do to protect him from it. But there simply wasn’t.

   “I’m not telling him anything,” Hermione said shortly. “Tell him yourself. It’s the only way to sort this out.”

   “I’m not running around after him trying to make him grow up!” Harry yelled.

   “Then prepare for the long haul, Harry,” Kim found herself yelling back, though she was surprised by her sudden spur of frustration. Perhaps she was just feeding off of the helplessness that Harry felt, the helplessness that she felt knowing she couldn’t do anything for him, or make him understand. She leveled her voice before continuing. “If you want a fight with Ron, by all means, stick your head in the sand. I’m not saying he’s not being stupid, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to make it better by being stupid back.”

   “Yeah well,” Harry retorted harshly. “Maybe he’ll believe I’m not enjoying myself once I’ve got my neck broken or—”

   “That’s not funny,” said Hermione quietly. “That’s not funny at all… Harry, I’ve been thinking. You know what we’ve got to do, don’t you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?”

   “Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the—”

   “ _Write to Sirius,_ ” she said. She then delved into an explanation as to why it was necessary, and Harry came right back with as many reasons as to why he absolutely would not be doing it. Kim wasn’t listening to any of it though. She was watching the lake, and thinking about how _she_ could help Harry. She was thinking about the terrible feeling in her gut and her visions. _I’d like to meditate but I need more supplies, which means I need to steel more… I feel like there’s something I’m missing though… something I already know…_ and then she remembered. Harry facing a dragon. The vision she’d had at the end of last semester. Was that a possible reality now? Had it been about the Triwizard Tournament? She knew Harry’s first challenge was a secret, meant to test a wizard’s ability to think on their feet. But if Harry knew what the challenge was beforehand…

   “When’s the first challenge?” Kim asked abruptly, interrupting Hermione as she said something about Sirius wanting to know Harry’s various troubles in school, and as his god father having the right to know.

   “A few weeks I suppose. Why?” Harry asked.

   “Gotta go,” Kim said, and without another word was leaving the group to dash off to Hagrid’s hut. If there were going to be dragons at Hogwarts, Hagrid was sure to know it.

   But after rapping madly on Hagrid’s door and looking through his windows, she concluded that Hagrid wasn’t home. Where he could be mid-morning on a Sunday, Kim had no idea, but a sudden scuttle and fiery blast coming from behind the hut made Kim eager to leave. She would just have to wait for the following week to speak with Hagrid.

   But the next week Hagrid seemed very busy indeed. Kim couldn’t manage to get him to talk with her away from the rest of her class or after class for longer than a moment or two. What was even worse, the entire school seemed to be mounting a personal assault on Harry. It wasn’t long before there were blinking badges that swirled the words ‘Potter Stinks’ when prompted properly, and students of all houses save Gryffindor were jeering at Harry everywhere he went, hurling insults and snickering at him. It was even worse behind his back.

   “Here you go Clemon,” said Victoria, a Ravenclaw girl, as she held out a potter stinks badge to Clemon who was sitting across from Kim in the Ravenclaw common room, reading. She peeked up and looked initially intrigued and rather pleased. Kim eyed her, and just as she was reaching out to take the pin, she caught Kim’s glare.

   “If you wear that I’m not talking to you,” Kim said plainly. At least Luna had the sense not to participate in the senseless bashing and rumor spreading. Kim thought Luna really just didn’t have a single malicious bone in her, and though it occasionally got on Kim’s nerves it was something she was grateful for at the moment.

   “Fine,” Clemon groaned, dropping her hand away from the pin. Victoria dropped her hand as well and turned on Kim, making a sound of disgust.

   “What’s got you all in a bunch, Kim?” Victoria said snidely, pressing her fists against her hips. “Thought you were only letting those weasel twins bang you. Got Potter at it as well?”

   Kim gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she watched Victoria laugh at her own joke.

   “You know Vic,” Clemon said, sitting up and closing her book. “Just because you’re a bloody tosser doesn’t mean Kim’s got to be, if you know what I mean,” she said coolly with a flick of her brows, implying a double meaning to her words. “With utmost respect, dear, don’t be jealous, it doesn’t suit you.”

   Kim had pulled her lips into her mouth and was concealing a devilish smile and chuckling quietly as Victoria dropped her lower lip and stared, disbelieving at Clemon. The look soon contorted into incensed rage.

   “I thought better of you Clemon,” she said, sounding scandalized, which only made Kim cackle even more. “That’s not something a _friend_ says to another friend, we do our potions together—

   “Oh, go stuff that pin up your arss, Vic. You’re a dull twit anyway,” she groaned, rolling her eyes as Victoria huffed and stomped off, gasping that she _could not believe-_ as she marched up to the dormitory. Kim was smiling satisfactorily at Clemon, who allowed a pleased with herself grin in response.

   “Impressed, are we?” she asked, examining her nails.

   Kim laughed. “A little, yeah. What happened, I thought you and Victoria were friends.”

   Clemon made a grunting sound like it wasn’t a thing of concern. “She’s a lousy friend anyway.”

   Kim’s face fell at this. “Speaking of which… Sorry, by the way. For calling you out the other day in front of everyone.”

   “It’s alright,” Clemon sighed, looking down at her nails again as if it was very important that she tend to her cuticles in that moment. “I suppose I was being a bit of tosser myself, then, wasn’t I?”

   She glanced up at Kim who had a smile sneaking up onto her face and they both cracked a wide smile and began to laugh. It was then, while sharing a much needed laugh with a friend, that Kim realized that while she was still having trouble getting something of actual substance together to help Harry, there may yet be something she could do.

   That Sunday, after all the preparations had been made, Kim went traipsing through the castle to find Harry. He was in the library with Hermione, of all things, on a _Sunday_ which really lent to the level of desperation of his situation. He’d been moping around for days now, suffering regular attacks on his character, or anything else the ravenous Diggory fans could think to sink their teeth into.

   “There you are,” Kim said, slapping her hands on either side of Harry’s shoulders. The poor kid jumped with fright, like she might wrap her arm around his neck and start trying to wrestle him. Upon realizing it was her however, Harry visibly relaxed.

   “What Kim?” Harry asked tensely.

   “Well hello to you too, chippy the chipmunk.”

   “What?”

   “Never mind. Just come with me.”

   “To where?”

   “Anywhere but here I figure. I mean, are you really enjoying yourself? Because, if so, by all means I’ll leave you to…“ she leaned forward and read the title of the book before Harry, “ _Analyzing the Theory of Charms._ Riveting stuff.”

   “It’s actually quite a good read,” Hermione said, looking up from her own work, something to do with house elves no doubt.

   “Alright, alright,” Harry said, standing. “I’m coming. But what are we doing?”

   “You’ll see,” Kim said, unable to keep the mischievous smile from spreading across her face. She led Harry all the way through the castle and outside, by which time Harry evidently couldn’t help himself from asking where they were going again. “I told you, you’ll see.”

    “Are we going to the quidditch field?” he asked because she started angling them towards it.

   Kim laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully. “ _You’ll see_!”

   But soon they were too close to the quiddich field for Harry not to realize that was obviously where she was leading him. Once within the field he was met with the sight of six other Gryffindor’s with brooms and casual clothes on, and Fred with a banged up looking quaffle under his arm.

   “Fancy a game of scrimmage?” he asked, smiling at Harry, who looked bewildered and a little excited from them to Kim.

   “What’s this about?”

   “Wanna play?” said Kim. “I’ve been learning to fly, but fair warning, I’m not very good.”

   “She’s not kidding about that mate,” Fred said over Kim’s shoulder, to which she reached around to knuckle his ribs but he dodged it, chuckling.

   “Seriously?” Harry asked, looking at the other players Kim had managed to round up. Well, realistically Fred and George had a large part to play in it. A few of them were other quidditch players like Angelina Jonson and Katie Bell. Dean Thomas and Lee had also agreed to play since it was just a simple game, with no bluddgers or snitch, and Kim had assured them she’d be the worst one on the team by a landslide anyway.

   “We didn’t all come out here to watch the clouds,” said George, catching the quaffle that Fred tossed him.

   "Yeah,” Harry agreed excitedly, looking at Kim with a mix of gratitude and awe. “Let’s play!”

   His reaction was heavily rewarding. She wasn’t sure, however, if it would make up for the extreme humiliation she was about to put herself through. If she had just convinced Ron to join in, her involvement wouldn’t have been strictly necessary, but alas, his grudge was steadfast.

   “Great. Let’s split up teams,” Fred said. “Katie and Angelina have to be keepers.”

   “How come?” said Angelina, just as Katie was saying, “No fair!”

   “Because you two _actually_ play quidditch, and it wouldn’t be fair if you got to be chasers, would it?” George explained.

   “And what about you two? And Harry?” Angelina retorted.

   “Don’t worry,” Fred said, holding his hand up at her calmingly. “Me and George’ll be on one team, Harry on another. Harry’s just as good as the two of us.”

   “And we’ll take Kim so it’ll make up for it,” George added, putting his arm around Kim’s shoulders and pulling her in with a toothy grin. Kim scowled at him. “Someone’s got to make sure you stay on your broom,” he added, which made Kim’s scowl falter and fade a bit into a sheepish grin. Perhaps even a blush.

   “So that puts me and Dean on Harry’s team then?” Lee asked, to which the twins agreed.

   “Ladies, pick your poison,” Fred said, pointing between the two sides of the field that were now splitting between the two teams.

   “Literally,” Angelina muttered with a smirk, surveying her options of teams. “Alright Harry, let’s do this,” she said, holding up a hand for him to high five. So the teams were split. Angelina as keeper, Harry, Dean, and Lee as chasers. On the other team Katie was the keeper, Fred, George and Kim were the chasers, though Kim thought a more apt name for herself would be balancer, since she suspected that would be what she spent the majority of her attention trying to do.

   Kim eyed her broom wearily as she threw her leg over and prepared to begin the game. She had practiced flying a few times now, but had only made a little improvement to her first attempt. Fred and George both mounted their bromes and shot Kim a glance. With that, the game was in play, though Kim must have missed some more definitive cue. She pushed off the ground, following Fred and George into the sky. Her heart rate was already climbing as she tried to stay steady on her broom, the twins dashing off with the quaffle passing back and forth between them.

   At first, Kim focused on staying out of the way and observing. She was happy to see that Harry had a wide grin on his face as his attempt to get the quaffle from Fred as he passed it to Groege almost succeeded. He laughed as the twins taunted him, aiming for the goal and taking a shot. Angelina blocked it expertly.

   Kim watched similar exchanges pass across the playing field a few times. She grew a bit more comfortable, managing to dash from side to side and up and down to get out of the way of the game. With a combination of feeling a bit more sure of herself and simple boredom, she felt more inclined to get involved.

   Harry was about to shoot for their goal, which she was still hovering near. She locked her legs firmly against the broom and pushed forward, speeding up, trying to get the timing just right. As Harry threw the quaffle, Kim ran smack into it in the open air, letting it hit her chest and lifting a hand to wrap her arm around it.

_I caught it!_ She thought triumphantly, and might have cheered, if it weren’t for the fact that she was now careening forward while trying to balance on a small stick of wood with only one hand. She pulled up to slow herself but found that she was being apprehended by both Dean and Lee. Kim’s eyes drew wide as she slowed to a stop and tried to figure her way out of the situation.

   “Go on, Kim,” encouraged Fred as he swooped in close to Dean and bumped him a bit, drawing his attention from Kim. “Go down to the goals with it!”

   Kim did not like this idea at all. She’d much rather pass the quaffle to Fred and be done with it. She’d had her taste of the spotlight and she quite disliked it. She supposed she couldn’t pass it, though, not with Lee still closing in on her and reaching his hand out to take the quaffle. He slowed on his broom as to not crash into her. She took this opportunity to thrust herself forward and around him, but now she was going much too fast, and she had very poor grip on the broom.

   She pulled up, trying to remedy the situation by slowing down, and lost her grip entirely. She wailed as her arm flailed in circles, the quaffle slipping loose from under her arm and falling away. She tried to regain her balance but she knew she was going to fall. The broom slid out from underneath of her, and suddenly it was in the sky above her and she was upside down. She hooked the broom momentarily with her food, but the momentum of her body swinging off the broom was too forceful, so she swayed forward until the tip of her shoe couldn’t keep a grip any longer.

   There was the familiar sound of howling wind rushing past her ears and the single, filling thought in Kim’s mind; _the ground is coming._ She fumbled as she fell, thinking to grab for her wand that was tucked her belt loop, but it was no use. She was too tangled and the ground was too near. The last thing Kim heard was a cry from a familiar voice and then an odd flapping and unfurling sound.

   Suddenly Kim’s body was writhing and twisting. She was still falling, but she was not herself anymore. There was a tangled mess all around her and the distinct feeling of shrinking while also being lightly pricked by a hundred needles. And then she was something much smaller than herself, and much lighter. Her eyes on either side of her head saw blue wings stretched out a bit sloppily, but she found quickly that it was very natural to force them into the right position, and once she did the wind caught under them with a forceful tug that stopped her downward fall.

   They were her wings. Wings instead of arms. She was a bird. It was immediately after that moment in which Kim realized she was now _flying._ Not flying on a broom, or on the back of a winged beast, but flying herself. Or more, she was gliding at the moment, but she flapped her wings hard and watched as the ground that had gotten quite near, drew quickly away. The sight of it was frightening, and Kim very much wanted to _land_ , but she had no idea how. As she lifted higher into the air, flapping madly to keep herself in flight, the wind caught her and started to bluster her feathers. She didn’t know how to catch the wind like birds were seemingly born knowing how to do. Instead of aiding her, it was fighting against her, until her small wings ached with the effort to keep herself from being swept up into a tangled ball of talon and feathers, careening for the earth yet again.

   “You alright?” asked the same familiar voice that she was sure had cried out a spell just before it’d been too late.

   George had swooped up beside her, still sitting effortlessly atop his broom. Kim fluttered before him, startled and a bit scared by his enormity, because she was now only as big as Strix, and desperate for a rest from her straining flight. Seeming to recognize her distress, George held out a hand and she stopped flapping, landing in his cupped palm and nestling against it. An overwhelming feeling of gratitude and safety fluffed her feathers. His fingers curled around her protectively, cloaking her in warmth and shielding her from cutting wind.

   George glided downward until he was on the ground, standing off his broom. Kim could tell he was trying not to jostle her, but she couldn’t help dig her claws in a bit when he shifted around, afraid she would topple from his hand and have to fly again. She was aware of other large figures moving through the sky as well, but they seemed very far away, and her vision was oddly angled and a bit blurry.

   “I’ll put you back. Ready?” he asked, making Kim tilt her head toward him so her black eye could peer up at his freckled face. He was wearing that warm and soothing expression that always made her feel like she had nothing to fear. She knew once she was human again she’d have to deal with the others nagging her for falling off her broom. _Again._ But at least she didn’t think she’d get that from George.

   Pointing his wand at her he said, “Reparfectus,” calmly and surly.

   Kim shut her eyes as she saw a flash and felt the same tangling feeling, like her body was being pulled in all different directions even though she knew it was not. When she opened her eyes she was standing on human feet, hip to hip with George. She looked up to his soft expression. She felt his palm, moments ago her sanctuary, protecting her from the blustering wind, as it still pressed lightly against her back. It felt warm through her tee shirt, like it had through the down of her feathers.

   “You’re all right?” he asked, eyes glancing between each of hers. His hand slid from her back to her forearm, not pressing, not holding. Just barley touching, like he was hovering there in case she needed him to help her stand upright. And perhaps she did. Her legs felt shaky and her knees throbbing and sore, though she wasn’t sure why. She thought she should answer so she parted her lips to do so, but for some reason, words weren’t coming out.

   A whooshing sound interrupted her silence anyway, George’s fingers slipping back to his side as they directed their shaky gazes to the sound. Harry landed near them and trotted a few steps forward, with Fred right behind him.

   “You all right?” Harry asked, his voice light and exhilarated. Kim swallowed, taking a purposeful step away from George as she felt herself blush.

   “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, trying to pull her head out of the haze it was in with a blink. “Sorry if I ruined the game.”

   Harry gave a short laugh. “You’re kidding,” he said, but Kim wasn’t. She felt awful, and terribly embarrassed for being such a miserable klutz. “It was great,” he continued, gesturing to the field around him. “Best time I’ve had all day. All _week_. Don’t be sorry. It’s nearing sunset anyway I figure. _And_ we beat you.”

   Kim made a show of pursing her lips but she was smiling despite it.

   “You really weren’t exaggerating about being a lousy flyer,” Lee said light heartedly as he came to land nearby, the others doing the same as well. “Figure a mop bucket’d probably fly better than that.”

   “Yeah,” agreed George in the same light tone, looking only at Lee. “If you could only combine the skill of both together you’d reach about your aptitude.”

   Lee scowled as Fred chuckled. Kim fought back a winning smile, looking up at George thankfully, though she didn’t think he saw it.

   “There’s really nothing more ironic,” Fred said, throwing an arm over Lee’s shoulder as the group all started to exit the field together. “An extreme enthusiast like yourself without a flying bone in your body. It’s tragic, really.”

   “Not as tragic as a twin without his brother,” Lee retorted gruffly, but the joking in his tone was still evident. “Sorry George, you’re about to be an only twin.” With that Lee threw his arm around Fred’s waist and they started wrestling rambunctiously. George laughed, as did Harry and a few of the others, but Kim couldn’t because she didn’t find it funny. She thought she should, but she felt as though a knife had just been stabbed into her gut and wrenched in a circle, twisting her insides. It was so visceral she grimaced deeply, as if wincing from physical pain.

   “You sure you’re okay?” George asked, catching a glimpse of her contorted features before she could relax them to a look of vague discontent.

   “Yeah,” Kim answered automatically, though she was still frowning. She worked to relax her brow and seem more convincing. After all, there was nothing to be bothered by. She was safe. Everything was fine. Nothing was wrong. “Yeah, I’m fine.”


	9. Dragons

Chapter 9

Dragons

   “You would tell me if there was going to be something really cool here, wouldn’t you Hagrid?” Kim asked him as she heaved a blast ended skrewt cage into position. She’d come to give Hagrid some extra help with the skrewts, not exactly her favorite pastime for a Saturday afternoon, especially since most students were at Hogsmeade, but she didn’t exactly have pure motives either.

   “Wha’ yeh mean?” Hagrid asked.

   “I _mean_ , this is an exciting year for a lot of people. The Triwizard Tournament being here and all… but most of all there’s been lots of fascinating creatures at Hogwarts. You would tell me if there was something you’d been dealing with that was creature related that you _knew_ I’d be interested in… right?”

   Hagrid had grown increasingly uncomfortable, so much so that he had carelessly stood too close to one of the skrewt cages, and a puff of fire escaped, tossing hot bits of smoldering ash into his beard. He busied himself patting it out as he moved to gather up some gardening supplies by the pumpkin patch, mumbling something unintelligible.

   “Hagrid!” Kim said in a high voice, sounding offended and indignant at the possibility that he might _not_ tell her. She knew, of course that he wasn’t telling her something, because she had an increasing suspicion of what that something was.

   “Well, I s’pose! But… I dunno, sometimes there’s things I’m nah supposed to tell yeh!”

   “Not _supposed_ to tell me? Come on, Hagrid. You wouldn’t make me miss out on an opportunity of a _lifetime_ would you? I mean, were something like that to arise, of course. Would you really let me stand here, so close to a magnificent creature of pure power and wonder, and not allow me see it for myself?” she asked, her voice rising in theatrics to a crescendo.

   Hagrid stammered some more. “I dunno, Kim… Dumbledore… and besides… have yeh ever seen a dragon before? You’ll pro’ly see ‘em at some point in yer life if that’s yer-” but he stopped himself short because Kim was smiling with a look of sly satisfaction. “Oh no,” he muttered.

   “So there _are_ dragons at Hogwarts,” Kim said, true wonder leaking into her voice around the bits of accusation. She found that she _was_ slightly hurt that Hagrid had kept this from her.

   “I shouldn’t a’ said tha’,” Hagrid muttered, turning from Kim and going about his chores that he was making a good show of trying to carry out.

   “Hagrid, _dragons_! You have to show me,” Kim said.

   “No!” he said with wide eyes. “I mean, I can’t.”

   “Sure you can. I’m not a champion. And no one has to know!”

   Hagrid seemed to debate this idea internally, looking from side to side as his fingers fiddled before his chest.

   " _Please_ Hagrid,” Kim pressed, opening her eyes wide and giving her eyelashes a great bat for effect. “This really is a once in a life time chance for me.”

   “Oh, fine!” he grumbled, throwing his hands down and starting to turn. “Follow me. But yeh better stay outa sight!”

   Kim followed Hagrid excitedly alongside the forest. It was a long walk before Kim started to hear the ruckus up ahead, but when she did her heart rate started to pick up in speed and intensity. Her palms were even a bit clammy. Dragons were intensely dangerous creatures, and she was having a hard time imagining Harry having to go up against one, even though she had already seen it for herself. They came around a bend of trees and a clearing came into view, the sounds of yelling men at its loudest now.

   And then they were in view. Four fully grown dragons were chained down in the clearing, all being managed by 30 or so wizards running about, pointing their wands at the angry dragons and shouting orders at one another. One of the dragons reared up on its hind legs and pushed flames from its mouth. Kim jumped involuntarily as a monstrous roar burst from its chest. Kim slunk to crouch beside a tree, even though they were still quite a distance away. She could feel the heat from the fire billowing up into the afternoon sky. She heard the calls of spells as the dragon was subdued. Kim remained behind the tree, remembering Hagrid’s command to stay out of sight.

   “Keep back there Hagrid,” a voice called out, and Kim scanned the field to try and spot the owner. “I’ll be right there!”

   “Oh,” Hagrid said, and though he was smiling and nodding at the familiar looking young man with bright orange hair, his voice sounded a bit nervous. Kim was curious about all this but her attention was too absorbed by the dragons. Especially the scaly black one that seemed to sheen slick in the evening sunlight with angry slit eyes. It was the largest of the four and seemingly the most troublesome for the wizards to manage. It was also the dragon Kim had seen in her vision.

   “I thought you weren’t going to be coming out until this evening,” said the same tan and freckled young man from before as he approached to stand just before Hagrid. Kim looked at him from where she was half hidden, though not very effortfullly, behind a tree. She now realized where she recognized him from. He was one of the Weasley brothers that she hadn’t formally met yet, but had seen on the train platform.

   “Hi yeh Charlie,” Hagrid said, looking past him a bit misty eyed at the dragons. Some of the handlers were shifting around grey eggs, bringing them to the side of the dragon nearest to them. Charlie looked over his shoulder and then looked back to Hagrid with a hint of knowing and exasperation.

   “I’ve got them counted,” he said flatly. Kim screwed her face up. _Does he think Hagrid’s going to steal one?_ Would _Hagrid steal one…_

   It was during this thought that Charlie’s eyes wondered to the near by tree that Kim was half hidden behind and caught her form before she could shift behind it more thoroughly. He frowned at her and looked a bit surprised.

   “Do I know you?” he asked, and then looked at Hagrid before Kim had a chance to answer. “I thought you were bringing a date?” He sounded rather disgusted, and Kim felt about the same.

   “What?” she demanded, coming out from behind the tree now that she’d been caught.

   “Oh, er, I still am,” Hagrid explained, putting is hands up in defense. “Just la’er.”

   Charlie gave a resigned look at Hagrid before he shifted his gaze to Kim. “I know you,” he said thoughtfully. “Did I meet you by the train station?”

   Kim nodded. “I’m friends with Fred and George.” She was already looking past Charlie and at the now relaxed black dragon. It was curled up beside its eggs, seemingly asleep, though when Kim looked closely she could see its eyes rolled behind closed lids, like it was always ready to snap them open.

   “They really are amazing,” Kim breathed, taking a step around Charlie to get a better view. Both he and Hagrid followed her as she moved a few paces closer, coming to lean against an outstretched low branch and watch with an awed expression. “What breeds are they?”

   Charlie pointed to each as he named them. “Common Welsh Green, Swedish Short-Snout, the Chinese Fireball, and this one here is the Hungarian Horntail.”

   “This is a Horntail?” Kim asked with a bit of awe and fear in her tone. She tore her eyes from the black dragon and looked to Charlie, who was eyeing her like one would when appraising something of possible value.

   “I’ve read about them,” Kim said, explaining her question. “They’re supposed to be highly territorial and aggressive. Especially the mothers. Which, judging by the eggs, this one must be.”

   “That’s right,” Charlie said, sounding amused, and perhaps slightly impressed. “Not to mention, their bodies are designed to be killing machines.”

   Kim’s eyes traveled down the sleek line of it, arrow dynamic and sure to be lightning fast, but still so large and muscled. Her eyes landed on the barbed end of its tail, sporting copper colored spikes that could easily impale a grown person.

   “No, I don’t envy the one who gets the Horntail,” Charlie said. “Which reminds me, you really shouldn’t be out here. Being a student at all. The competitors aren’t allowed to know the challenges.”

   “I know. I won’t tell anyone, I just wanted to see them for myself… I’ll bet it’d be crazy to ride one,” she pondered allowed.

   Charlie gave a sharp breath and a smile as he looked at Hagrid who said, “Adventurous, this one.”

   “She’d have to be in order to be friends with my brothers. They’re not here are they?” Charlie asked wearily, eyes darting into the trees.

   “No. They don’t know I’m here either. Anyway, we better get going,” Kim said abruptly.

   “Already?” Hagrid complained.

   “You’re coming back later,” Charlie reasoned with a smirk.

   “I know,” Hagrid said, sounding rueful, but he followed Kim away all the same. Once they were out of ear shot, Kim turned on Hagrid as they walked.

   “You’ve got to show Harry.”

   “Are you bloody daft?” he cried.

   “Hagrid. Do you _want_ Harry to die? He’s going to be facing that thing in a few days. He needs to be prepared. He’s never seen a dragon before either, and he needs to see what he’s going to be up against so he’s prepa—”

   “I _can’t_ ,” Hagrid insisted. “I wan’ Harry to do well, you can trust tha’. But I can’t show ‘em!”

   Kim sighed frustrated and started churning through strategies to convince Hagrid otherwise. Sure, Kim could tell Harry what he needed to know about the Horntail, but it wasn’t the same as seeing it. She was still turning over her own words by the time they got back to Hagrid’s hut.

   “Hagrid! There ya’ are,” came a gruff voice. Kim looked up, surprised and a bit alarmed to see Professor Moody standing there.

   “Moody,” Hagrid said, sounding about the same as Kim felt. _Does he know where we just came from? Can his magical eye see that far?_ Kim’s mind raised, but Moody seemed relatively calm. Pleasant even. Kim wasn’t sure if that was reassuring or doubly alarming.

   “I just thought we could go up to the broom sticks,” Moody said, pointing towards the general direction of Hogsmeade. “Am I interrupting anything?”

   “No,” both Kim and Hagrid said at the same time, and then looked at each other a bit nervously.

   “No, nothin’ at all,” Hagrid said. “Kim and I were jus’ about to go our separate ways. She was helpin’ me with the skrewts,” he added.

   “Good to here. Let’s head off then?”

   With that Moody was leading Hagrid up the hill and away from his hut. Kim gave a feeble wave as Moody nodded goodbye.

_That was weird,_ Kim thought. _That was weirder than weird. Since when is Moody all chummy with Hagrid? Then again, I haven’t been around as much lately…_ She pushed the thought away, with too many other bothers on her mind as it was. How was she going to convince Hagrid to let Harry see the dragons before it was too late? Could she simply lead Harry there herself or would that be too risky? Maybe she would simply have to settle for explaining to Harry what she’d seen in her dream, and preparing him to face the Horntail…

   The castle was relatively deserted since most students were off at Hogsmeade still. Kim had meant to go after she’d finished helping Hagrid, but had gotten distracted by the dragons. She didn’t expect to find much of anyone wandering these halls now, but to her surprise she heard a familiar pair of nearly identical voices exchanging frenzied whispers from down another passage. She halted in her progress for the dormitories and backtracked until she was in line with the hall from which the whispers echoed. Fred and George were leaning against the curved shape of a column and had their arms crossed and faces stern. She turned down the hall and headed for them.

   “What’s the secret?” Kim asked, also in a mock whisper. At first the boys looked vaguely surprised but then relaxed once they saw it was here.

   “Nothing,” Fred said dully.

   “What’s up?” Kim asked with concern, because they weren’t there normal chipper selves for certain. “Why aren’t you two at Hogsmeade?”

   George shrugged, taking a step away from Fred and the column to lean his whole body against the stone wall. “It gets kind of old after a while,” he said.

   Kim raised her eyebrows in suspicion. “Yeah…” she said, though her tone indicated that she didn’t believe him for a second.

   Fred let out a breath of air from his nose. “We were hoping to find Bagman. He hasn’t exactly been cooperative…”

   “Right,” Kim said, remembering the letter the twins had sent him, hoping to get their winnings in _real_ gold rather than the fake gold Bagman had given them. That had been months ago, and she hadn’t heard of any progress since. She’d mostly been afraid to bring it up because it always seemed to put them in a dismal mood.

   “By uncooperative you mean…” Kim prompted, but neither of them were forthcoming. “What did he say?”

   “Nothing. He hasn’t _said_ anything,” said Fred spitefully.

   “He hasn’t answered your letter?”

   “Maybe he’s busy,” George reasoned, always the optimist. “He is in charge of the tournament.”

   “Yeah, that explains why he’s avoiding us too,” Fred said sarcastically.

   “Maybe he’s not avoiding you,” Kim offered, wanting George to be right. She desperately wanted all of this to work out. If it didn’t, she’d accidently aided in illegal gambling that cost her best friends their life savings. And their dreams. Her stomach squirmed at the thought.

   “I’m sure if we actually find him and get a chance to talk to him all of this will get squared away. I can help you look,” she offered feebly.

   “Fine,” Fred groaned as he pushed off the column and they all began down the hallway. “We saw him earlier today, must’ve been tending to some business with the tournament. We figured it was likely he was still here but haven’t been able to spot him,” he explained and then all was quiet for a time as they passed down hallway after hallway, scanning for Bagman.

   “You know what you could do,” Fred said randomly. “You could have another one of those visions of yours. Tell us how this whole thing is going to play out. Tell us if it’s even worth our time.”

   Kim grimaced, though her eyes were sorry. “It doesn’t exactly work that way,” she said.

   “Why not?” asked George.

   “I didn’t _try_ to see that vision of the quidditch outcome. It just happened. I don’t know how to control it yet,” Kim said with a shrug.

   “Ah,” Fred said, drawing it out and holding up a finger at her. “ _Yet._ ”

   Kim sighed and shook her head, though she couldn't help a rueful smile. “Maybe. I’ll try.” Both the twins made a sound of success. “But I’m going to need some supplies before I’m able to do anything. I’d get them myself but Professor Sprout moved the stuff I need since the last time I swiped it.”

   “Lucky for you,” Fred said with a smile.

   “Come to the right place,” George agreed, stretching his arm across Kim’s back to give his brother a firm pat on the shoulder.

   “Which reminds me,” said Fred, pulling a palm sized bag out of his pocket, “I need you to do something for me. Put these under Victoria Bridgewater’s pillow tonight.”

   “Victoria Bridgewater?” Kim asked, taking the bag with a contemptuous smile. “What are they?” Not that it would matter. Kim was sure this was just some random prank on the boy’s part, but Victoria happened to be a special kind of target for Kim. Her words the other day in the common room were still buzzing around in Kim’s head, even though Clemon had given her a good what for. _Thought you were only letting those weasel twins bang you. Got Potter at it as well?_ It made her cheeks hot and her stomach twist just at the memory. The terrible part of it was the mixed and jumbled feeling in her chest when she thought about those words and looked to Fred as she stuffed the bag into her pocket.

   “Don’t worry about it,” he said with a cocky smile, and Kim wondered if he could see the heat in her cheeks.

   “Fred, those aren’t—”

   “Don’t worry about it, George,” Fred interrupted. “You’re not friends with her are you?” he asked Kim.

   “No,” Kim said firmly, shaking her head. “She’d a bitch,” she added in a mutter.

   “See,” Fred said, gesturing at Kim and looking at George, as if Kim’s statement was evidence for the continuation of his unstated plan. “We told her if she didn’t knock it off with the snide remarks she’d get the itch. Her fault she didn’t take that seriously.”

   “What snide remarks?” Kim asked. Fred’s expression faltered, and then something completely unexpected happened. He looked down at Kim from his lofty perch of over half a foot above Kim’s eye level, and his expression _softened._ His wicked grin melted, the inner corners of his brow turned up ever so slightly, and something funny happened to his eyes, like they were seeing through her to something very important on the other side.For a moment she felt completely disoriented, and if it weren’t for the little dark freckle under his right eye and the way his nose hooked slightly more to the left that George's, Kim might have thought she was looking at George and not Fred.

   “Don’t worry about it,” Fred said, but it was quieter then the last time, and all the edge was gone. Kim felt her eyes widen slightly as she looked forward at the hallway they walked down. She was utterly perplexed. _What was_ that _about_? But she didn’t have any time to ponder on it, because just then they were coming into the Entrance Hall, and she spotted a jovial looking judge of the Triwizard Tournament.

   “Is that him?” Kim asked, realizing that she was fairly certain she was watching Bagman scurry across the hall at the sight of the three of them coming into the room, heading for the stair well.

   “Mr. Bagman!” called Fred, holding up a hand and rushing forward. George and Kim followed close in toe. Bagman cautioned a glance over his shoulder and then turned the rest of the way away from the group, looking anxious and much less jovial now.

   “Mr. Bagman, please wait!”

   “We’d just like to have a word,” George said as they jogged up to catch Bagman before he could make it very far up the stairs. Finally he slowed and turned a bit jerkily, as if his body and mind were warring over whether to stay or run for it.

   “Yes, unfortunately I’m very busy boys,” Bagman said hastily, not looking any of them in the eye.

   “It’ll only take a moment of your time,” George said.

   “We know you’re busy, sir,” Fred said, with a bit more authority in his voice than George. “But we really do need a word. You got our letter, yes?”

   “Letter? I’m afraid not. You’ll just have to send it again, boys, you know how owls can be from time to time,” he said as he started to turn away and took a few steps up the stairs. Fred took a few more and came to stand beside him.

   “Of course, but it would be easier just to talk now. See, it’s about the money you gave us.”

   Bagman looked at Fred then for the first time, seeming almost appalled. “Good lord, boys. Keep your voice down,” he hissed. Kim swallowed hard. None of this felt right, and she was becoming more and more certain that none of it was going to go their way.

   “It was leprechaun gold, sir,” George said in a hushed voice.

   Bagman let out a forced laugh that bellowed out of him and echoed through the hall. It was so forceful it made Kim jump slightly. He started to turn and begin up the stairs quickly before the twins could head him off again.

   “No, no, that would be ridiculous, boys. I’m sorry but you must be mistaken,” he said, almost to the top of the stairs now.

   Fred faltered, put off and baffled by the whole exchange, and then took off up the stairs a few steps at a time. But by now Bagman was at the head of the stairs, and Fred only halfway up. “No, it _wasn’t_ a mistake, sir!” Fred called up the stairwell, but it was no use. Bagman was already gone. Fred let out a huff of air that turned into a groan and threw himself against the railing.

   “It’s alright,” Kim comforted, but she knew very well that it wasn’t. She just didn’t know what else she could do. “We’ll figure something out.”

   “We’ll get him another time. When he’s not as busy—”

   “Don’t be gullible, George,” Fred snapped, pushing off the railing forcefully and beginning down the stairs. Kim hated to see them like this. Fighting. It was a rare thing, but it was all the more wrong and terrible feeling for it.

   “Bagman wasn’t busy. He’s avoiding us,” Fred said as the two of them followed behind him.

   “All we can do is try again. Make sure he knows we’re not going to just go away when he wants.”

   “Yeah, we’ll see,” Fred said, but his tone didn’t lighten, and his mood didn’t improve much either for the rest of the night, though he did a good job pretending for the others.


	10. Revenge

Chapter 10

Revenge

   That evening, Kim did as Fred had asked. She snuck up to the girl’s dormitory while most of the others were still in the common room, lazy with Hogsmeade sweets and feast. There was one other girl a few bunks away, but Kim simply waited for her to be preoccupied with a book on her bed before crouching down beside Victoria’s mattress. She opened the bag Fred had given her.

   Inside were what sort of looked like after dinner mints of some kind, something you would find in a bowl at a grandparent’s house. They were an off colored blue with a thick powder over them. Kim decided it was best not to touch them, since whatever magic was in them didn’t actually require ingestion. She lifted Victoria’s pillow and sprinkled the contents of the bag out evenly underneath until there was nothing left inside. She then tossed the bag out the window, like she did with the ashes from her meditation sessions. The girl reading on her bed glanced up at Kim as she moved away from the window, but Kim pretended not to notice. She went back down to the common room nonchalantly.

   That night, Kim was woken with a start. Her eyes peeled open to be greeted by darkness and the drapes of her four poster bed as she drew in a startled breath. Then the screaming that had woken her filtered into her mind and made her fly upright, looking around the dormitory frantically as her eyes adjusted. The screams were coming from nearby, and they were angry and sobbing.

   “I _know_ it was you,” came a hysterical voice. Kim heard something moving toward her in the dark.

   “What?” Kim said, disoriented and squinting.

   “I know you did this,” the figure said again, her voice full of desperation and loathing. It was definitely a girl, but her face was all swollen and red. As Kim’s eyes adjusted she could see small pinprick sized holes that were surrounded by large swollen lumps of skin and covered in scratch marks. Just as Kim scooted back in her bed with revulsion, the girl who must have been Victoria reached up to scratch at her neck manically, explaining the red claw marks.

   “You vindictive little slag,” Victoria spat, making Kim recoil. She wasn’t an expert on UK curse words, especially not the more vial ones. But she had a feeling that this was not something you’d throw across a family dinner table in gest. “What did you do to me?” she demanded. “What did you do to my _face_?”

   Kim clenched her teeth and forced herself to be collected. The last thing she needed now was to seem ruffled. She snorted, and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Victoria. You always look like that.”

   Kim slid out of bed on the other side, away from Victoria as she fumed, a growling noise escaping from her as the other girls that had awoken snickered. The sound grew more high pitched as Kim made for the exit. She wasn’t sure where she was planning on going, just that she needed to get out. Before Victoria started clawing at Kim’s face instead of her own.

   “I will _get_ you for this, Shimmers,” Victoria squealed, her voice so high in pitch now it was cracking as she forced the words out of her mouth. “I will _get_ you! You think you can hide behind those red headed brats, but you _can’t_!”

   Kim was fairly certain she was still screaming, but her voice had faded away now that Kim was entering the girl’s bathroom. She took a shaking breath, trying to steady herself, and locked herself into a stall. _That was stupid,_ Kim thought. _Poking an angry bear. Felt good… but was_ stupid. _And I should have known she would know it was me. It’s not like it’s any secret that anything prank related is probably thanks to Fred and George. And it’s not like me being friends with them is a secret anymore either._ Kim heaved a sigh. _I’ll just have to deal with this then. Whatever. It’s not like Victoria was on my list of favorite people anyway. And it’s not like I was ever on hers._

   With that, Kim sat in the silence for a few more moments, reveling in how loud absolute quite could be before she snuck back into the now sleeping dormitory and crawled into bed. Not before checking it for any jinxes or unwelcome objects under her pillow, though. When it seemed safe, she crawled in and fell back asleep.

   The next day Kim went down to breakfast, managing to avoid Victoria, but getting pulled aside by Clemon on the way down the stairs from Ravenclaw Tower.

   “Did you really do that to Vic’s face?” Clemon asked.

   Kim looked at her wearily as she mulled over an answer for a brief pause. “And what if I did?”

   Clemon snickered. “Hell, Kim,” she said, smiling wide. Kim smiled back despite herself. “What _was_ that?”

   “I’m not sure, to be honest.”

   “Well, you better watch your back,” Clemon said, catching Kim’s eyes. “Apparently Vic’s got this new boyfriend who’s really protective. She was spouting all this garbage about how he was going to get back at you somehow.”

   “Great.”

   “He’s an oaf, though. A Slytherin, but not one of the clever ones. Don’t worry yourself too much.”

   “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll see you in class,” Kim said, because they were in the Great Hall and she had just spotted Fred and George. She sat down between them and took a plate.

   “So… How’d ya’ sleep?” Fred asked.

   “She knows it was me,” Kim said bleakly, taking a fried egg and some toast.

   “How?” Fred said incredulously.

   “It’s not rocket science, Fred. She obviously did something to piss you off. You threatened her. I pranked her with one of _your_ classic pranks. We’re friends and everyone knows it. She knew it was me right away, and she was _not happy._ ”

   “It was one of the Itching Puss Rocks, wasn’t it?” George asked Fred, a hint of accusation in his tone. He took Fred’s silence as an affirmative, which judging by the name, Kim could only assume was accurate. “Fred, those are still prototypes, they’re too potent! How many did you put under her pillow?”

   “Um, the whole bag so, like ten?” Kim said, squinting. George looked a bit angry now.

   “You’re lucky her throat didn’t swell shut,” George said warningly, but he was looking at Fred. Kim directed an angry gaze at Fred as well.

   “You heard her, George. She deserved it. Not to mention, I knew she’d be fine because it wasn’t direct contact with the skin.”

   “You probably could have stood to warn me not to touch them by the way,” Kim grumbled, and then watched as Fred’s grimace fell immediately to a look of horror.

   “Bloody hell. You didn’t touch them, did you?” he asked.

   “No,” Kim said, more gently, since he obviously looked sorry. “I kind of inferred.” His look of horror relaxed into something of a fond smile, which Kim couldn’t help but return. _What the hell?_ she thought to herself. _I should be mad!_ But she just wasn’t.

   They went back to eating their breakfast for a little while, saying nothing. After a few moments George cleared his throat and said, “How’d they work?” as if he was trying to sound casual. Kim couldn’t help but laugh because it was painfully obvious how badly both of them wanted to hear how their dangerous product worked, even though they both knew they should both feel a bit ashamed of themselves, or at least George knew it.

   “Uh, a little _too_ well I think,” Kim said.

   “So they did work, then,” said Fred.

   “Yes! Her whole face was covered in these nasty pustule things and she couldn’t stop scratching. It was disgusting… she called me a… a slag or something.”

   George made a motion like he was choking and then he swallowed his food, looking like he was struggling to do so. Fred just scowled and shook his head.

   “Really not a lot of class in that one,” Fred said, forking a piece of egg rather forcefully.

   “I don’t care so long as she doesn’t attack me—”

   “If she so much as lay’s a finger on you,” George interrupted, looking more assertive than Kim thought she’d ever seen him.

   “Yeah, she doesn’t want to go down that road,” Fred agreed, seeming a bit gleeful at the idea of getting to retaliate after something of the sort.

   “Thanks guys,” Kim said with sincerity, but she didn’t really want all of this attention aimed at her about this. She’d rather just go back to simple things, like sneaking into Gryffindor Tower and pranking first years. “But don’t worry about me. Just focused on dealing with this Bagman deal. And getting me the stuff I need so I can maybe do some divination for you.”

   That reminded her of the _other_ person she was trying to help. She looked down the table and saw a rather angry looking Ron sitting alone. But there was no Harry or Hermione.

   “I gotta talk to Harry about something. I’ll catch up with you later,” Kim said, standing.

   “Wait, Harry?” Fred said in protest.

   “What about the herbology stuff?” George asked.

   “Uh, just figure a plan out and fill me in later,” Kim said absentmindedly before she left them to go find Harry.

   After wondering the halls for a little while, Kim decided the logical thing would be to find Hermione, who would no doubt be in her natural habitat; the library. When Kim arrived, she only had to walk past a few tall shelves lined with ancient books that wafted a comforting sent of book dust before she caught the sound of Hermione’s voice. Around a corner she spotted both her and Harry pouring over multiple books, like she’d found the both of them many times over the past few weeks. Hermione probably had Harry on extra homework duty again, since that was her usual idea of fun.

   “Pst,” Kim said leaning over the table to talk to the two of them in a whisper. “There’s something I’ve got to tell you, and it’s going to sound crazy. But you’ve got to trust me. The first challenge is dragons.”

   Kim’s eyes flicked from Harry’s to Hermione’s, neither of whom looked nearly as shocked as she expected, and then down to the books they were poring over. One that was closed on the desk and sitting before Harry was _Men Who Love Dragons Too Much._ Kim frowned.

   “But I see that you already know that…How-” Kim stammered.

   “How did _you_ know that?” Harry asked.

   “How did _you_?”

   “Hagrid showed me.”

   “He did?” Kim said, sounding surprised. “He sounded pretty adamantly against it when I asked him,” she murmured mostly to herself as she lowered into a chair.

   “Asked him? What are you talking about?” Harry said.

   “Okay, let me explain. I had a vision of you facing a dragon at the end of last semester. I didn’t know what to think of it, because, well… I thought it was impossible. But after your name was pulled from the Goblet of Fire…”

   “You realized what the vision must have meant,” Hermione finished for her.

   “Yeah. But I wanted to be sure before I made you panic, so I harassed Hagrid into showing me the dragons. Well, I more guilted him into it,” Kim admitted. “Anyway, he said he wasn’t allowed to show you because you were a competitor. That was yesterday afternoon, and he sounded pretty sure. I was trying to convince him still when Moody came up and invited him to the Three Broom Sticks.”

   “That’s where we saw them!” said Hermione

   “Yeah, they were there together when Hagrid came over to me and told me he had something to show me. And he showed me the dragons.”

   “Weird…” Kim pondered. “I wonder what changed his mind…”

   All three of them sat in silence thinking on this for a moment.

   “Well, never mind that,” Kim said. “Did you find out what dragons were which, Harry?” He nodded. “The Hungarian Horntail is yours.”

   “Wait, how could you-” Hermione began, but cut herself off. “Oh… right. So you really saw it last year?” She sounded disbelieving. Kim nodded. She knew Hermione didn’t exactly have the highest of opinions about divination, but perhaps she would come to look beyond that given that Kim was obviously more skilled than Trelawney. And not nearly as much of a show boat.

   “Well then…” Hermione said, seeming to be trying to wrap her head around the idea, or perhaps trying to decide whether or not to take Kim seriously. “Perhaps it would help to tell us exactly what you saw. In case you saw something else that could be… informative.”

   Kim leaned against the back of her chair letting air hiss out from between her lips. She tried to envision the dream. Tried to resee what she had seen that night. But it was foggy and malformed. She remembered the important bits. Being behind a rock. The fire. The dragon. But she couldn’t bring back the images exactly how they were. It was too long ago.

   “All I can remember is being in a rocky terrain. Must be the kind of stadium they’re going to make for the challenge. I can’t remember anything else. It was a really short dream and… Like I said, at the time, I thought it was crazy. I convinced myself it was just a dream.” Kim leaned forward to put her elbows the table and rubbed her forehead. “I’m sorry Harry.”

   “It’s okay,” he said.

   “At least we know what dragon it’ll be,” Hermione offered.

   Kim scoffed. “Yeah, that’d be great if it were good news. But, yeah, I guess knowing is better than not.”

   “What do you mean, good news?” Hermione asked.

   “The Horntail… you saw it Harry,” Kim said, nodding to him. Harry’s mouth got a bit tighter, like he already understood. And of course he did. They both had seen the thing. “It’s by far the most difficult of the three.”

   “Of course,” Hermione said bitterly, turning back to her book on spells that could pierce dragon flesh. But they were all far more advanced than Kim could ever dream of using. She didn’t know what Harry’s skill was with a wand, but she couldn’t imagine he was _that_ good.

   “Dragons,” she muttered. “It’s insane! The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures classifies dragons as a _level five._ Do you know what that means? It means they are in the category of _the_ most dangerous creatures. Wizard Killers. Untamable. How could they expect you, or any student, to _defeat_ one? It’s impossible!”

   “I appreciate that, Kim,” Harry said sourly.

   “What are you suggesting?” Hermione asked at the same time.

   Kim shook her head lightly as she thought it over. “Dragons are also a commodity. There’s a very specific procedure for the killing and harvesting of dragon hide, as well as other valuable body parts. One dragon is worth _a lot_ of money, and they’re throwing away four? It’s not just a waist, it’s barbaric. The object simply can’t be to kill it. It’s too much. The dragon… _that’s it!_ ”

   “What?” they both said.

   “The Horntail was a new mother. She had eggs when I arrived. I can’t help but thinking that the others might be as well. If so, _that_ would explain your objective. You have to get something. The dragon will be guarding whatever that _thing_ is. It has to be it.”

   “So I just have to figure out how to get _past_ the giant angry dragon,” said Harry.

   “Yeah,” Kim said, trying to make her voice sound light but failing. “Marginally better. Right?”

   “Right.”

   And so they began churning through basic spell books to try and discern what spell it was that would be the key to Harry’s success against the dragon. But it wasn’t long before Victor Krum came shuffling into the library with a gaggle of excited girls on his trail, and Harry and Hermione decided to take their studies elsewhere. Kim went her separate ways, settling to work on some homework, though it was slow going, since she kept finding her mind had wondered off to Harry’s dilemma for an indiscriminate amount of time, snapping back to realize she was supposed to be reading about goblin rebellions.

* * *

   “Kim, I’m really sorry, but I told Moody you’re the one who told me about the _challenge_ ,” Harry said suddenly. He had scooted down the lunch table to sit across from Kim, Fred, and George.

   “What?” Kim asked, disbelieving. Did he mean he’d told Moody she’d informed Harry about the dragons?

   Harry let out a distraught breath of air. “Moody found out that I know… _you know_ ,” he said, looking furtively around the table at the many listening ears.

   “How?” Kim demanded.

   “Never mind! It was an accident. I’m sorry. It was either that or turn in Hagrid. I figured your visions wasn’t _really_ cheating. Since it’s magic. I’m allowed to use magic. And I’m allowed to have help practicing so… it’s not really that bad.”

   “No, it’s fine,” Kim said, shutting her eyes and rubbing them. “Better me and Hagrid getting into more trouble.”

   “What’s going on?” Fred asked, frowning.

   “Oh no, don’t you butt your nose in,” Kim said holding up an irritated hand to him. He rolled his eyes and looked back to his plate.

   “Someone’s one the rag,” he muttered. Kim ignored him decidedly.

   “Have you figured out what you’re going to do yet? The first challenge is tomorrow,” Kim said to Harry.

   Harry nodded, much to Kim’s surprise. “Don’t worry about it. Hermione and I have got it figured. And Kim… thanks for your help.”

   Kim stared at him for a moment as he got out of his seat. “Yeah, yeah of course,” she said, shaking her head. The relief was what surprised her. She couldn’t help still worrying that things wouldn’t be that easy for Harry once he was actually _in_ the challenge, but Kim decided to let herself have faith that he would somehow handle it.

   She supposed she would just have to wait to find out, and once Tuesday came, it was time to do just that. Since Harry had told Kim that he had told Moody about her revealing the challenge secret she expected to get pulled aside any minute, but no such thing happened. Perhaps Moody would have a talking with her when they were in class next. Kim could survive that if it meant that Harry simply survived this day.

   She spotted him and Hermione in the Great Hall, with Professor McGonagall coming over to him. The challenges were about to start and the whole school was buzzing, like Kim’s gut. Kim stood, hurrying over to Harry before he could be whisked away by McGonagall and ignoring the questions from Fred and George.

   “Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now… You have to get ready for your first task,” Professor McGonagall said to Harry just as Kim reached his side.

   “Good luck, Harry,” Hermione whispered from beside him. “You’ll be fine!”

   “Yeah,” Harry said, but his voice was hallow and a bit shaky.

   “You can do it, Harry,” Kim said under her breath as Harry stood. He gave her a nod and a grimace that might have been meant as a smile before he turned to follow Professor McGonagall out of the Great Hall.

   “Do you really think he’ll be fine? What did you two come up with?” Kim said to Hermione hurriedly, sitting beside her. She looked exhausted and just as anxious as Harry.

   “He’s going to magic his broom to him,” Hermione said.

   “His broom… that’s genius! Oh my god, why didn’t I think of that!” Kim exclaimed, feeling a bit more relieved. Then she remembered he would be flying against the ultimate flyer. Harry was good, but was he better than a dragon? Than the sleek Hungarian Horntail?

   “God I hope he can pull this off,” Kim breathed, rubbing her face.

   “Me too,” Hermione said.

   They sat there in silence for what felt like a long time, picking at their food until Professor Dumbledore appeared at the head of the Great Hall.

   “The time has come,” he said with his hands stretched up into the air. “All rise and please follow professor McGonagall out to the arena in an orderly fashion. The first challenge, in which we shall watch our champions be tested in their valor and cunning, is about to begin.”

   Kim and Hermione stood, stepping out of the table along with hundreds of other chattering students.

   “I’m thinking a giant,” Kim heard a familiar voice say.

   “No way, probably some kind of obstacle course that’s hexed from here to China,” responded another voice, which belonged to George.

   “There you are,” Fred said as Kim turned to face the twins.

   Kim heaved in a deep breath and then let it fall out of her lungs. “I’m nervous.”

   “That’s silly,” Fred said.

   “You’re not even competing.”

   “I’m nervous for Harry!” Kim explained.

   “Don’t worry,” Fred assured.

   “Harry’ll be fine,” said George. “He’s a tricky little dingus. He’ll luck his way out of it.”

   “He’s gonna need more than luck,” Kim muttered. They followed the mass of students out onto the yard and toward where Kim already knew the dragons were housed. They walked past a large tent, revealing an even larger stadium. Kim saw Hermione walking a few paces ahead and Ron walking beside her.

   “You know how _dangerous_ this is going to be,” she was saying to him angrily. “And all you can think about is holding a stupid grudge!” Her voice cracked a little, showing how truly upset she was, and how worried about Harry.

   “With a huge stadium like this, I’m thinking giants are a better bet,” Fred said with a sly smile to George.

   “Dunno... What do you think the rocks’re for?”

   “It’s dragons,” Kim said dully, looking over the rocky arena. It was a huge field of expanse surrounded by bleachers. Kim, Fred and George were climbing stairs behind Hermione and Ron who were still bickering.

   “ _That_ would be a sight,” Fred said excitedly.

   “No, seriously,” Kim said, looking at him with a dead expression. “The challenge is dragons.”

   “You know?”

   “How do you know?” George asked.

   “I saw it. I already told Harry, I just didn’t want you two nutters spreading the word around the school and getting me in trouble. Well, _more_ then I’ll already be in,” she added in a mutter.

   “Bloody brilliant,” Fred said with awe in his tone, shaking his head as they sidled into the bleachers and sat down beside Hermione and Ron. “ _Dragons_!”

   “Now you see why I was worried?” Kim said, her teeth chattering from the bitter cold. She rubbed her hands against her legs, attempting to heat up her red fingers that were going numb.

   “You want my gloves?” George asked, holding up his hands that were sheathed in a thickly knitted pair of gloves that had a festive pattern along the palms.

   “Would you mind?” Kim asked, wrinkling her nose. George shook his head and commenced in taking off his gloves. Kim took them gingerly and put her fingers into the thick fabric. They were still warm from being wrapped around his palms. Something about the idea made Kim’s heart flutter a bit excitingly and uncomfortably, reminding her of his hand encompassing her tiny bird body.

   “Thanks,” Kim said, smiling with the edges of her mouth growing tight and wavering. As she looked back at the arena her she caught a glimpse of Fred’s expression on her other side. He was eyeing her and George with a suspicious sideways glance. When he caught Kim’s gaze he blinked and looked back to the arena but his lips looked slightly pursed. Kim’s smile faded as she swallowed hard and focused on the rocky expanse before them and all the students that were now finishing filing into their seats. The chattering buzz was almost more than Kim could take, filling her ears with a nauseating hum. She squeezed her knees to try and keep calm.

   There, being let into the arena by a dozen wizards was a great bluish-grey dragon. It wasn’t the Hungarian Horntail so that meant Harry wasn’t first. The arena that had been clattering before with excited chatter fell hushed for a moment, as everyone’s eyes fell onto the beast with awe, and fear. It sauntered into its corner of the arena, snapping angrily at one of the wizards that tried to manage it. It came to nest over a pile of grey eggs, and one that clearly did not belong; a golden egg.

   “That’s it,” Kim said, even her quiet and shaken voice sounding loud amongst the breathy silence of the crowed. “That’s what they have to get.”

   “Blimey,” Fred breathed, eyes open wide as a smile crept onto his face. “You were _right_.”

   “When will you stop being surprised by that?” Kim said flatly. Fred laughed with excitement as the rest of the stadium started to share in his enthusiasm. Cheers and claps started to break out all across the throngs of people as the dragon let out a roar and a band began to play a bouncy tune that Kim felt sure was meant to be lively and festive. It simply made her heart pound harder to the drum beat.

   “Well, since you know everything, who’s going first then?” Fred asked, flexing his brow with a challenge.

   “I don’t know, but not Harry. This isn’t his dragon.”

   As if on cue, Cedric Diggory walked out of the tent with his handsome features contorted with effort to stay calm, and his posture all stiff but still standing tall. Fred seemed placated by Kim’s offerings of knowledge and joined in with the Gryffindor crowed around them that let out a not-so-friendly jeer. At this point almost everyone in the stands stood, which Kim begrudgingly obliged as well. Bagman was at the podium with the other judges looking a bit harried like he tended to these days. He put his wand to his throat and began to commentate on the match, throwing in his two cents that Kim for the most part ignored.

   Cedric paced around to the left, keeping his body facing the dragon, still quite a distance away from him, like he was feeling out for how the dragon would react to him, waiting for it to make the first move. It did no such thing. The blue dragon merely watched him, cautiously, placing a scaled claw over its nest and flexing its wings protectively. Then, without much warning, Cedric took off like a bolt of golden lightning. He ran across the arena, leaping from rock to rock swiftly and gracefully.

   Kim watched in anticipation, wondering what his plan was. He was running parallel to the dragon, not at it, but he now had its more ruffled attention, its body shifting uneasily as it became agitated. Once Cedric reached the other side of the arena he spun around and thrust out his wand arm faster than Kim could see. A light flashed across the arena and swirled around a rock just to the other side of the dragon, opposite of Cedric. The rock transformed into a Labrador, much to Kim’s surprise.

   “A _pup!_ Is that the best you can do?” yelled Fred bouncing onto his toes a bit as he tried to see around arms thrown in the air and heads that popped up and down.

   “Come on!” George jeered in agreement. But Kim just watched. The Labrador barked and growled, seeming startled and a bit upset at the presence of a dragon so nearby. Kim couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor thing. She had to remind herself it was merely a rock, the rest was nothing but a magic trick, a transfiguration, and an impressive one at that.

   What was more significant was that the rock/Labrador seemed to upset the dragon just as much. When it turned and started to dart away, barking angrily all the while, the dragon flexed its wings pensively and darted forward, leaving its nest momentarily open for Cedric, who was perfectly in line. Suddenly his aims became clear.

   “That was actually fairly clever,” Kim remarked.

   Fred looked at her, scandalized. “That’s the enemy.”

   Kim merely rolled her eyes. She knew Fred was especially sore still about Hufflepuff’s victory over Gryffindor in quidditch the year before, which was completely thanks to Cedric catching the snitch at the last minute of the game, right as Harry was falling off his broom and nearly dyeing. So he was a bit less than impartial.

   Turning her attention back to the action, she saw Cendric dart forward and make it to the pile of eggs, considerably less graceful now than he had been before, probably due to massive amounts of fear, Kim would expect. A large portion of the stadium erupted in applause, but this actually worked in Cedric’s disfavor. The dragon swiveled its head around, the rock/Labrador clenched in its jaws, now transfigured back to its original form, inanimate once more. The dragon spotted Cedric scrambling for purchase beside the nest and its face took on a snarled expression. It spat out the rock, angry it had been betrayed by the bait, and angled its head properly at Cedric as he reached for the golden egg. His hands were just taking purchase as pillars of fire billowed out of the dragon’s mouth, shooting right at him.

   Kim drew in a gasp, as did everyone else. At this point, it seemed side’s didn’t matter. Nor grudges. Even Fred and George stood in stillness. Cedric rolled down the other side of the rocky embankment, his arms wrapped to his chest as licks of fire spread up his torso and neck. He reached the bottom, the dragon already beginning to crawl angrily forward after him, and thrust up his arms, revealing to the arena the golden egg between his fingers. A cannon fired loudly from the stands as Bagman shouted “Yes, he’s got the egg!”

   The stands erupted into cheers. Kim even clapped, and neither of the twins said a thing as the dragon was subdued by the dragon tamers and coaxed out of the arena through the large double doors it had come through on the opposite end from the champions’ tent. Other wizards rushed out to help Cedric put out the fire on his robes and aid him in exiting the arena. Kim couldn’t see his features that well from where she sat, but she was fairly certain his face was reddened and burned from the flames.

   “Madam Pomfrey’ll fix ‘em up,” George said, nudging Kim in the arm with his elbow. She looked at him to see he was smiling lightly, clearly enjoying the festivities just as much as Fred. How they could be so light hearted about it with Harry possibly minutes from facing the very same thing, she didn’t know.

   “Harry’ll manage just as well as Diggory. _Better_ even,” he added. “Don’t worry.” Kim just nodded, trying not to take this as seriously as she was. _Lighten up,_ she told herself. _If they can manage it, so should you. Be more like Fred and George._ She forced a smile and cheered through the next contestant, Fleur Delacour, and found herself feeling more and more like she believed it as the challenge went on. However Fleur’s performance was admittedly much less entertaining to watch than Cedric’s, though a hundred times more graceful. She manage to put the dragon to sleep and sneak past it without suffering any serious consequence.

   “She’s going to be competition,” Kim remarked.

   “No way,” Fred scoffed.

   “Do you have any idea how resistant dragons are to magic? To be able to effectively put one to sleep… it had to’ve been a powerful spell. I’m just saying, don’t take her lightly.”

   “You really think so?” Fred pondered, his brow furrowing lightly like he was cooking something up in his mind. Kim didn’t like the look of it. “Hey George, what do you say we get some people to place bets on the next game?” he asked. George smiled.

   “Oh god, _no,_ ” Kim exclaimed, holding a hand out on either side of her as if to stop two trains on a collision course. “ _No_ more gambling. Didn’t you two learn your lesson the first time?”

   “Don’t be so uptight,” Fred said, frowning at her a little.

   Kim pursed her lips and her eyebrow raised a bit sharply. “What money are you planning on using, hm?”

   Fred shrugged. “Jeeze woman, it was just an idea,” he said, shaking his head in small motions as he got close to Kim’s face, making her smile despite herself and push him away.

   “Yeah well, just don’t do anything stupid. Let me rephrase that. Don’t do anything _irreversibly_ stupid. Since stupid is kind of daily thing for you guys.”

   “Ouch,” George said in mocking.

   The next champion wasn’t Harry either, which meant he was going to be last. Kim watched Victor Krum with half interest. She had since realized that this was the very same boy she’d predicted the losing Quidditch Cup game for, though knowing as little about quidditch as she did it didn’t mean much to her. His battle with the dragon _was_ exciting however, and watching a dragon this close up was a dream come true for Kim in general. Still, the idea of Harry coming out of that tent was a shadow over the entire day, making her legs jitter and her palms clammy, even though it was a bitterly cold day.

   Krum got the egg. Each contestant got a number score that Kim hadn’t been paying much mind to so far. She already couldn’t remember what Cedric had gotten from the first round. She drew in a shaky breath as they lead out Krum’s dragon to exchange it for Harry’s.

   “Harry’s turn,” Hermione said from down the line, leaning forward to look at Kim past Ron and Fred.

   Kim nodded, worry creasing her brow. “I know…”

   Fred looked at Ron with a cheesy green. “ _Women,_ ” he said.

   Ron nodded and gave a halfhearted smile, but it was tight and nervous looking. “Yeah, right…” He looked back to the arena as the Hungarian Horntail was led into view, rubbing his palms anxiously against his jeans.

   “Hermione,” he said, a bit unevenly. “How exactly did you say you and Harry prepared for this?”

   Kim swallowed, leaning back to stand upright and not bothering to listen in to the rest of their conversation. It was giving her anxiety anyway to try and think about preparation because it was _too late._ It was too late for that, the dragon was here, and Harry was next. All she could do was watch.


	11. Take It

Chapter 11

Take It

   The cannon exploded, and moments later Harry came from the tent and into the rocky arena. Fred and George erupted into applause, as did much of the bleachers, their arms thrown up in the air as they bounced on their toes. Kim clapped and gave a cheer too, but it barely made it out of her throat, and it didn’t look like Harry could hear them at all.

   Harry raised his wand and flicked, his mouth moving but the words lost in the cheers of the crowd.

   “What’s he doing?” Fred asked excitedly.

   “I don’t know!” Kim said, patting him on the shoulder hastily so he would put his arm down and get out of her view.

   “I thought you were helping him prepare,” Fred said.

   “Shush! Just watch!”

   Everyone around them seemed to be having a similar conversation. Watching, waiting in anticipation as Harry shifted his wait from foot to foot and stared down the black dragon. It was at this point that the dragon seemed to have had enough. It dug in its claws and leaned forward, still crouched over its nest of eggs. Its jaws opened.

   “Run Harry!” Kim screamed, and though she had no idea if Harry could hear her or not, Harry ran. He ran to the right, slipping a bit on the loose rocks beneath him and scrambling to come behind a large bolder, just big enough for him to crouch behind. Suddenly Kim was watching in a strange state of shock and trance, because it was much like someone had removed her from her body. But she _was_ in her body, she merely felt as though she belonged in Harry’s body at this moment. The dragon opened its jaws even wider and released a great hiss of firry air, blasting the rock Harry hid behind with flame. Kim watched from an aerial view as her dream unfolded before her. It was entirely surreal.

   But then the dragon had stopped to take a breath, and Harry had stood out from behind the rock, and the feeling was abruptly over. She had caught up with real time, and she had no idea what was about to happen next. Then a whizzing sound grew from the distance and a brown blur flew overhead. Kim ducked instinctively as a broom shot over the stands and towards Harry. He caught it, just as the dragon opened its fanged mouth once again for another blast, and threw his leg over, shooting into the sky faster than Kim could follow.

   “ _That’s_ a boy!” Fred cheered.

   “Beat him at his own game!” George yelled.

   “It’s a she,” Kim said, not able to help herself now that she was smiling at the small victory.

   “What?” George said.

   “The dragon. They’ve all been she’s. Remember that when you sling _woman_ as an insult,” Kim said, shifting her pointed gaze to Fred. He made a face, though he evidently had no comeback to this, which was both shocking and rewarding in of itself.

   Kim turned her full attention back to Harry as he dived at blindingly fast speeds. She held her breath for fear he would crash into the ground, narrowly missing fire being blasted at him before he pulled from the dive and darted back into the sky again. She realized he was trying to taunt the dragon away from her eggs, which she was quite determinedly hovering over without so much as a budge.

   “Why won’t she move?” Fred asked, throwing out a hand as if there was a foul on the field.

   “Because she’s a Horntail. It’s like I told him, there extremely territorial. It’s going to take more than that to coax her away from her eggs-” Kim gasped and drew her hands to her mouth as Harry dove too near to the dragon’s tail wiping in his direction. He swerved out of the way, managing to stay steady on his broom, but just barely. He went swinging through the air as the jagged tail with its barred razor spikes made contact with his body. Kim gasped again, jumping with horror as she waited for the undoubted moment that Harry went flying from his broom, plummeting to his death for the second time. Her right hand flew down to grab onto something stabilizing in her moment of abandon and landed on George’s arm. His hand shifted as hers slid down, his exposed fingers meeting hers and clasping around her now hot and gloved hand as if by instinct.

   Kim grew more and more aware of this as it became clear that Harry was _not_ in fact hurtling to his death. He had stabilized himself and was seemingly trying to puzzle a new way to get past the dragon, soring high into the air out of its reach. Tingling chills of adrenaline and excitement ran through Kim’s body as she looked down at George’s hand wrapped around hers, the tension in both their bodies holding their grasps tightly between them, as if when they let go it might cause them to fall to either side, suddenly destabilized. His fingers were bony and raw, red from the cold and pale, but his hand was large enough to well encompasses hers.

   She caught his gaze shifting to her and looked up at him, embarrassed and breathless, and a bit dizzy with confusion too. He released her hand hastily, and she quickly brought hers back to her own lap as they exchanged uncomfortable glances.

   “Sorry,” he muttered, frowning a bit, and looking back to the arena.

   “N-no it’s-” Kim began but she could feel her feeble words getting lost in the cheers of the crowd, “fine…”

   Harry was very high in the air now, and the dragon was stretched to its full height without leaving the ground, clearly agitated and following him closely with her yellow slit eyes. Harry was trying to taunt the dragon upwards, get her to fly. And it was working.

   “That’s it Harry. Use her strengths against her,” Kim murmured, balling her fists and pressing them against the sides of her legs, willing the dragon to lift off.

   When she did the cheers that exploded in the crowd were mixed with screams of fear at the sheer intensity of the powerful beast. With one great flap of her wings she had almost met Harry where he was hovering in the air, but while the Horntail was fast once up to speed, Harry had the advantage of his small size. He darted to the side as the dragon rose to follow, blasting fire after him in a sweeping motion towards the stands that sent screams through the audience, and made Kim clutch both of the boy’s shoulders with an iron grip. She forced them down into their seats as she too crouched low, the dragon spitting fire over the stands as Harry sped by overhead. Kim panted heavily as she waited to feel the heat and the stinging lick of flames on her back and neck. But nothing happened.

   Confused, she released the boys shoulders as they all sat up just in time to see Harry diving toward the golden egg. Without slowing in the slightest, he reached down with the same skills that made him a more than impressive seeker, and snatched up the egg. The dragon roared with anger and blasted off another shot of fire into the crowd, allowing Kim to see what she couldn’t before.

   “It’s warded,” she realized, watching as the fire licked up an invisible barrier that protected the students.

   “Of course it is!” Fred said, yelling over the clapping and cheering, a wide grin spread over his features as he too clapped wildly for Harry. “I appreciate the sentiment though. Good to know you’re not the save yourself type.”

   Kim snorted, clapping hard as well. “Next time I’ll be sure to use you as a shield,” Kim remarked, but her smirk was quickly shifting into a true smile. Harry was alive. What was more than that, he had done very well, at least in Kim’s opinion.

   The dragon was being herded back toward the exit, and Harry was flying down toward the tent. It wasn’t long before students were filling out of the bleachers excitedly, recounting the most exciting moments of the tournament. Many of those moments were Harry’s. Hermione and Ron came up beside Kim as they exited the arena. They both were pale and nerve wracked, and Hermione had fingernail marks on her face from where she’d evidently been clutching it.

   “He did well,” Kim said breathily. Hermione nodded, seeming a bit shell shocked still.

   “We’re going to go see him now, do you want to come?” she asked.

   “Yeah, sure,” Kim said, looking over her shoulder to invite the twins but they were already off chatting excitedly with Lee. “You’re coming too?” Kim asked Ron, who shrugged, swallowing hard.

   “Figure I better…”

   Kim decided not to question it any farther. If this meant the two of them would be making up, all the better. They headed quickly for the medical tent before anyone could catch them leaving the mass of other students buzzing with excitement as they headed back for the castle. Harry was standing just inside, still with a torn sleeve, but seemingly unharmed. He smiled wide upon seeing them.

   “You did great Harry,” Kim said. “Luring the Horntail out like that… really smart.”

   “Thanks,” Harry said a bit breathily. He had a look about his eyes like he wasn’t quite sure anything was real or not.

   “Yes, you were brilliant!” Hermione said squeakily. Harry nodded at her but his eyes shifted to Ron who was standing a bit awkwardly to the side.

   “Harry,” he said, very seriously, “whoever put your name in that goblet, I- I reckon they’re trying to do you in!”

   Harry’s face didn’t soften. “Caught on, have you?” he said coldly. “Took you long enough.”

   Kim swallowed, looking from boy to boy as did Hermione, wondering if this was about to be the beginning of another fight or the end of them all. She desperately hoped for the later. Not only for Harry’s sake but for her own as well. She didn’t know how much more hair pulling madness she could withstand.

   Ron opened his mouth like he was about to say something, his brows turned up and eyes down turned with shame, but Harry stopped him.

   “It’s okay,” he said. “Forget it.” Kim felt a weight lifting off her shoulders.

   “No,” said Ron, “I should’ve—”

   “ _Forget it_ ,” Harry said.

   Ron grinned, still a bit nervously, but Harry smiled back at him all the same and it was as if nothing had happened at all. Kim pulled in a breath of chilly air, remembering she still had George’s gloves wrapped around her fingers, pondering on how the thought made her somehow feel warmer from within, and then smiling that this day had been a _very_ fulfilling one, though she felt oddly that all the ways in which it had were still unknown to her.

   Then, quite unexpectedly, Hermione burst into tears. Kim jumped and looked at her with an expression a bafflement that matched Harry’s and Ron’s. If it weren’t for their evident confusion, Kim would have thought she’d missed something in her day dreaming.

   “There’s nothing to cry about!” Harry told her.

   “You two are so _stupid_!” she shouted, stomping her foot as tears leaked from her eyes and spilled all over her face. She then threw her arms around the two of them, which they attempted to return but were too taken aback to properly do so, and then did the same to Kim quickly before turning on her heels and running off.

   “Barking mad,” Ron remarked, shaking his head.

   “Well, you _are_ stupid,” Kim said with a sorry expression, as if she were a doctor delivering bad news to her patients. Ron made a face and wagged his head at her before looking back to Harry.

   “C’mon, Harry, they’ll be putting up your scores.”

   “I better go after Hermione,” Kim said, feeling bad for her. She had been under an awful lot of stress lately. Kim could certainly relate to that. Harry and Ron shrugged at her and Harry gave her a wave as she left the medical tent and hurried up toward the castle. It wasn’t long before she’d caught up with Hermione who was ambling beside the forest, almost ready to cross the lawn and enter through the front doors.

   “Hey, wait up!” Kim called, and jogged the last distance. Hermione looked over her shoulder and wiped her eyes hastily.

   “What was that about?” Kim asked.

   “I don’t know,” Hermione huffed, dragging away the last bits of tear and wiping her hand on her jeans. “I guess I was just… _sick_ of all there bickering for no reason. You know, _boys,_ they’re ridiculous!”

   “Trust me, I know.”

   “I thought they would never make up. They wouldn’t even _talk_ to each other, and for what? A bit of silly jealousy? A misunderstanding, basically. All they needed to do was talk about it but _no_! No, instead they had to send _me_ between them like some kind of _mail owl_!”

   “At least they worked it out. Stupid or not, at least they’re back to being friends again,” Kim said putting her hands up as if in defeat and smirking at Hermione. She returned the look and shook her head.

   “Yes. You’re right. There is that.”

   Kim sighed, thinking of her own boy troubles. What had been itching in the back of her mind for a while now…

   “So… you know there’s supposed to be a ball later in the semester…” Kim said.

   “Yes, I’ve suspected,” Hermione said with a sigh, “since that’s the tradition.”

   Kim made a little groaning noise and kicked a stray pebble as they walked across the yard.

   “Any idea who you’re going to go with?” Kim hedged.

   Hermione grimaced. “Not really. Trying not to think about it, honestly. Not that I’ve had any time to think about it,” she added hastily, straitening herself up.

   “Right, right… yeah, I don’t know who I’ll be going with either… I’m kind of dreading it. Don’t even know if I wanna go, to be honest.”

   “I’m sure someone will ask you,” Hermione offered, seeming to now realize that Kim wasn’t trying to pry as much as vent. She looked at Kim with kindness and concern and then turned her eyes frontward with a thoughtful expression.

   “Let’s see…” she pondered allowed.

   “I don’t know, I can’t think of anyone… really… you know, that I’d really _want_ to go with. I mean there are people who I might _agree_ to go with, I guess… But I just don’t think I’ll end up going at all because, being in Ravenclaw, I don’t expect one of them to ask me. Can’t really think of a Ravenclaw boy who I’d want to, really.”

   “Well… what about Fred?”

   “What?”

   “Or George?”

   Kim tittered, embarrassed. “Oh, I don’t know… I don’t think… We’re all friends.”

   “I know. But, if you ask me, it seems _possible_ that friends might become _more_ than friends,” Hermione said slowly. She looked at Kim cautiously and then added, “I just mean that it’s possible.”

   “Yeah, yeah. I think it’s possible… you really think so?”

   “Yeah!” Hermione said, nodding encouragingly. “ _Completely_ possible.”

   “Right. Good… Not that I’m thinking of taking either of them,” Kim added hastily. And she wasn’t, not in a _considering it as likely_ sort of way. She still thought of it as a very, _very_ distant possibility. In fact simply imagining either of the twins asking her to the ball made her insides squirm in such an uncomfortable, adrenaline inducing fashion that she pushed the thought away before she could fully process it.

   “Right, neither am I,” Hermione agreed quickly, and then stammered a bit, “thinking… of going with… a friend, or something.”

   At this, Kim’s eyebrows raised, but they were already making their way into the Great Hall, so she didn’t press the question. After a lively feast, everyone was heading off to bead with visions of dragons spinning around their heads. Kim waved goodbye to Hermione and a very happy reunited Ron and Harry. She had already left Fred and George behind at the Great Hall when they had dashed off to celebrate Harry’s success in the tournament with other Gryffindor’s. She now walked the rest of the way to the Ravenclaw tower in relative peace, finally feeling like things were at ease. Until a large figure moved out from behind a column lining the hallway and into Kim’s path, shadowed by another smaller figure.

   “Is this her?” said a gruff voice, coming from a Slytherin boy Kim recognized from the quidditch team but didn’t know the name of. Behind him was Victoria, arms crossed and with a snide look of satisfaction on her face. Kim’s eyes widened at the sight of her.

   “That’s right, Kim. You know what’s coming next,” Victoria said to Kim, and then looked to the large boy, “Yes, that’s her.”

   A nasty grin spread across the boy’s face as he took a step towards Kim and reached into his robes.

   “Victoria,” Kim said, her stomach churning and her voice shaking. Her mind just kept spinning around the same question; _what’s happening, what’s happening, what’s happening._ But somehow her mouth still worked. “I know you’re mad. You have a right to be but—”

   “Save it!” Victoria shrieked. “I don’t care what you have to say. You disgust me, you dirty mudblood.”

   “ _That’s_ what this is about?” Kim said, honestly shocked. What little she knew of Victoria she didn’t like, but _this_? Kim had thought she was safe in Ravenclaw from this sort of thing. She’d thought she’d escaped this.

   “Don’t look so surprised, Kim. You thought it wouldn’t get out? Thought you could keep it a secret forever?”

   “It wasn’t a secret—”

   “Well, you can always tell, the mudbloods from the _real_ wizards. And you should also watch who you trust as your so called friend,” she added with a twisted smirk. Kim could feel bile rising in her gut, threatening to spill up into her throat. The boy had drawn out his wand. Kim’s eyes followed it as he slowly lifted it to point at her. _What is happening? What are they going to do? What are they going to do to me?_

   “Clemon told me,” Victoria whispered. Kim’s legs started to shake. She wasn’t really hearing what was coming out of Victoria’s mouth, only thinking that she needed to draw out her wand. It wouldn’t be long before she would surely need to defend herself, and she should use Victoria’s yammering to her advantage. She could turn and run, but then she’d just be struck from behind… and that was only if she could get her legs to move.

   “It’s really not even about the… _incident_ in the dormitory. It’s simply that you think you’re better than me, and it’s been driving- me- crazy,” Victoria said, tapping the side of her head with each word. “And I really can’t have that, can’t have you distracting me from my studies. So… Miles, take care of it please.” With that nonchalant command she was turning and slinking down the hallway.

   Kim’s heart leapt into her throat as Miles lifted his wand more erectly, arm fully outstretched and at the ready now. Kim fumbled for her own wand, drawing it out and racking through her brain for a deflecting spell. She was no good at spells. None at all. But if she were like Fred or George, if she were just a little bit more like them, she’d have her head on straight, she’d have a spell flying out of her lips, and a clever insult coming right on its tail. But all she had was a stammer and shaky wrists as she lifted her wand.

   “ _Stupify_!” Miles roared, flicking his wand and sending shocks of light out at Kim. Her mind was still racing for a deflector spell but somehow one flew out of her mouth.

   “ _Protego!_ ” But her wand motion was unpracticed and felt foreign to her. She already knew the spell wasn’t going to work properly the moment she cast it. She felt a dull ach take over her head that blossomed into a throb. She couldn’t properly think through it, or even move, though she was still capable of standing there stupidly.

   “ _Conjunctivis_!” Miles yelled again, this time a blast of sizzling yellow light shooting from his wand that Kim could do nothing to dodge. It hit her at full force, and a feeling of burning pain in her eyes mingled with the thundering that was already taking place in her head. She let out a scream, staggering to the side as she attempted to keep her footing. But she couldn’t see a thing now, and she wasn’t even certain if her eyes were open or closed. The burning pain that stabbed through her sockets was enough to make her want to claw out her eyes.

   “ _Stop,”_ she cried as her wand clattered to the ground and she staggered, losing her balance and toppling forward.

   “ _Everte Statum,_ ” came another cry, and Kim felt herself fly through the air and slam face first against the wall, crumpling and falling to the ground. There was no air in her lungs, and it seemed there was no air left in the word for her to suck in. There was a stabbing pain in her chest, though it was still nothing compared to the burning in her eyes, and Kim suddenly found herself in a panic that her eyeballs might have been set aflame. She would’ve reached up to touch them if she were capable of controlling her wobbling, shaking limbs. She lay there writhing on the ground, blind, pain so absolute that she was unaware of where here limbs were at all.

   Then she felt a forceful shove enter her gut, throwing her against the wall again momentarily. She coughed, feeling warm liquid over her face and not knowing if it was coming from her eyes or her mouth, or if it was blood or spit or bile. Another forceful slam and Kim realized she was being kicked.

   “For good measure,” Miles said in his deep, gruff voice. Kim trembled on the ground, waiting for the next kick. She didn’t care how many times he kicked her. She reached up to touch her cheeks and felt they were slick with something. She was afraid to touch her eyes. Then she heard the sound of footsteps disappearing down the hallway. And then there was nothing but the loud thundering of Kim’s heart in her ears, and the sound of her uneven breathing, interrupted by uncontrollable whimpers, echoing off the stone walls.

   “Help,” she tried to say, but the sound that came out of her throat was a croaking scratch. She cried, feeling her face crumple and a gasp escape her lips. Would anyone come by here? Would anyone see her? If they did, would they help her or leave her to suffer?

   “Help,” she moaned louder, her voice a mournful cry. She sobbed, rolling to her stomach and trying to get to her hands and knees. They wobbled and refused to bear her weight. She held her breath then, thinking she heard the sound of someone returning down the hallway. It should’ve been welcome sound, but all she could imagine in the swirling darkness of her throbbing eyes was Miles storming back down the hallway to finish what he started. _Would he kill me? It felt like he wanted to…_

   Kim scrambled to her feet, using the wall for support, soon realizing that she had heard nothing but the sounds of her own uneven breathing. She staggered down the hall, heading back to the Entrance Hall where she would be more likely to find a teacher, or anyone. Someone. Her shuffled steps skidded against something that sounded wooden and rolled a few feet away. Kim bent down and grasped her wand with violently shaking hands, fumbling to tuck it into her robe so she could use both her hands to feel along the wall. She made her way slowly, her aching wobbling legs unable to go any faster, and the searing pain in her eyes forcing her to struggle back a scream every second that passed.

   “Help,” she croaked again, and then her feet lost the ground and she tumbled, hitting the sharp edge of the stairs that she forgot were there and rolling down.

   “Oh my-” came the sound of a shocked male voice, followed by feet. It wasn’t Mile’s voice. Kim gasped through the pain, trying to speak. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, the voice unfamiliar.

   “I was attacked,” she cried. “Please, get help.”

   “I’ll get McGonagall. Bloody hell,” he murmured as Kim pushed herself upright on the stairs and wrapped her arms around herself. She thought about trying to stand again, but she was still on the stairs, and she still couldn’t see. She was lucky she hadn’t broken her leg on the way down, though she was certain she had wrenched her ankle because it was throbbing vehemently. But waiting was terrible. Every sound she heard was Miles rounding the corner to shoot another spell at her. Avada Kadavra with its green jolts of light haunted the blackness of her sight. The pain in her eyes did start to subside, but it was a small token of reward in the darkness, and in the thrilling terror that shot up her spine with every settling sound of the castle walls.

   “Heavens me!” came Professor McGonagall’s voice. “What on _earth_ happened here?”

   “I was attacked,” Kim said, her voice still horse.

   “Oh, you poor dear. Come, come. We need to get you to Poppy right away!” she said, putting her hands on Kim’s shoulders and making her wince. She started to guide Kim upwards, but she stumbled.

   “I’m sorry,” Kim said, her face crumpling again, the terribleness of it all rushing back to her, refreshed. “I can’t see,” she barely managed to say.

   “Oh dear,” McGonagall breathed. “Alright, I’ll lead you. Careful now.”

   Kim felt a soft but firmly gripped hand wrap around her elbow and begin to lead her forward down the stairs. She followed along beside Professor McGonagall, her body protesting and screaming the whole way. But she wouldn’t stop. She refused to give in and crumple to the floor, though that’s what she felt like doing.

   “Kim!” came a familiar voice from somewhere behind her, sounding far away. She heard feet running up to her.

   “She needs medical attention, Mr. Weasley,” Professor McGonagall said. Kim heard a door swinging open and they entered another room, though she had lost all sense of where she was by now.

   “Kim, what happened?”

   “Fred? George?” she looked around fruitlessly for them.

   “We’re here.” That one was George, Kim could feel the tenderness in his tone. It didn’t make any sense but their presence gave her a rush of security and thankfulness, but it also brought another round tears to her eyes. She gasped through her next words, trying to speak through both pain and tears.

   “I- I’m sorry.”

   “Sorry?” Fred said, sounding like he either didn’t understand or didn’t believe he’d heard correctly.

   “Please, lie down Miss Shimmers. Poppy!” McGonagall called as she guided Kim toward a cot. She felt it pressed against her legs and she collapsed ungracefully against it, whimpering at the relief of taking the weight of her wrenched ankle and bruised body.

   “ _What_ has happened _now_?” Madam Pomfrey’s voice demanded as her clacking shoes approached where Kim sat on the cot. “First _dragons._ Now what?”

   “I’m not quite sure,” McGonagall said, almost sounding sorry, if Kim didn’t know the wizened woman better. As Madam Pomfrey rounded the side of the cot she let out a little sound of surprise. Kim put her arm around her waist self-consciously and touched her cheek, feeling the sticky liquid that was all over her face. _Is it… blood?_

   “Some kind of jinx I would think. Is that right?” Madam Pomfrey asked.

   “You said you were attacked, Miss Shimmers?” said McGonagall. Kim nodded, swallowing hard. She wondered if Fred and George were still in the room, though she hadn’t heard anyone leave.

   “I can’t see,” she whispered, unable to make her voice go any louder without it wavering uncontrollably.

   “It’s alright dear. Nothing I can’t take care of. You just lie back,” Madam Pomfrey said, placing her hands on Kim’s arms and shifting her onto the cot more. Kim winced with the effort to move her bruised body, which made Madam Pomfrey tisk loudly.

   “Did they _hit_ you?” she asked, touching along Kim’s rips until she couldn’t stifle her own flinch. Kim nodded, pulling her lips into her mouth.

   “Who? Who hit you?” came Fred’s angry snarl. And he sounded very angry. Angrier, perhaps than Kim had ever heard him, even when he was talking about Bagman steeling his money or Slytherin’s winning at quidditch.

   “No, Mr. Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall, and then there was a pause that Kim didn’t quite understand. “ _Fred_. I won’t be having any vendetta arrangements tonight. I’ll allow you and George to stay on that condition alone. Understood?” There was the sound of huffed out breath and the shuffling of feet as Fred and George presumably settled into a seat somewhere.

   “Good,” she said sternly, and then added with much less firmness, “She needs to rest. Not to be bombarded with questions.”

   Kim was endlessly thankful for that. She heard Professor McGonagall leave then as Madam Pomfrey went about mending Kim’s smaller bruises and twists with spells. She tilted Kim’s head back and gave her something disgusting, but Kim drank it all down.

   “You should be able to see within the half hour. But I highly suggest you rest. Spells like these take quite a toll one the body,” said Madam Pomfrey as she left Kim’s bedside and soon left the room. Kim felt herself drifting into something not unlike sleep, yet not quite sleep either. She lay like that for an unknowable amount of time before she heard a quite but angry whisper.

   “This is our fault.” In the moment she couldn’t quite tell if it was Fred or George that was speaking, or who they were speaking to.

   “Why would it be our fau—

   “You know why,” George retorted. Kim could only tell that he was George because the other voice belonged to Fred. His voice didn’t sound his own at all. It was clear now that they thought Kim was asleep.

   “We didn’t know that girl was going to take things so sourly. Didn’t know she was going to assume the rocks were put down by Kim, and we _certainly_ didn’t know she was going to viciously attack her, if that is in fact what’s happened—”

   “Who else would it’ve been? She hasn’t done anything wrong in this place unless it’s been with us. Unless it’s been us setting her off to do it.”

   There was silence for a moment, during which Kim considered announcing that she was awake, but didn’t quite get the chance.

   “If she wants to be one of us she’s got to—”

   “What if she doesn’t,” George cut in. “Have you ever asked her?”

   “What kind of nonsense question is that—”

   “Personally, I like her just fine how she is. _Alive._ ”

   “ _You don’t think I do too_!” Fred hissed, trying to keep his voice low and failing at it mostly. “I’m _sorry_ , all right? Is that what you want? I took it too far!”

   “You always take it too far.”

   “You’re always too afraid to take what you want.”

   “What’s _that_ supposed to mean,” George said. Kim hated that they were fighting like this about her. The burning in her eyes had subsided by now, but she felt heat returning as tears started to well. She just wanted everything to be _peaceful._ For once this year. Like the way she remembered feeling after meeting the twins for the first time. Like nothing in the world really matter except laughter and lightness. Like there was nothing else. Perhaps that was too much to ask.

   “You know what it means,” Fred said, and then there was a pregnant pause. “If you want something, go get it. Take it. Stop tiptoeing around it like you’re not sure, I know you.”

   There was another long pause. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

   Fred scoffed. Kim took a long deep breath, one that sounded like waking up, and then opened her eyes. Anything to stop this back and forth. The ceiling blurred into fuzzy view. She blinked a few times to get it to focus but it didn’t seem to work. She looked over at Fred and George, sitting on the cot beside Kim’s, looking in her general direction, though she couldn’t really make out their faces. In fact she couldn’t tell them apart at all.

   “You feeling all right?” asked the gentler twin, sliding off the cot to take a step toward her. _This is definitely George,_ Kim thought fondly, a small smile on her face as she looked wistfully up at his blurry form, with barely distinguishable brown orbs and a mass of orange flame on his head.

   “Yeah. I feel a lot better now.”

   “What happened?” Fred asked, coming to stand beside George as well. Kim blinked a few more times and sat up onto her elbows. She groaned, but pushed herself into a sitting position none the less.

   “It was Victoria, but she had her… I don’t know. This guy Miles attacked me,” Kim explained blankly. It felt so long ago now, even though she supposed it had only been minutes. Not even an hour. Would this feeling fade and would she tumble back into feeling like before? The heart thundering danger, the choking fear. She shuddered at the thought.

   Her eyes wandered across the room and she caught the reflection of herself in the mirror across the room with a gasp. There were blood stains streaming down from her eyes, turning her cheeks a muddied red, and making her appear as if something from a nightmare. She touched her check, frowning and rubbing at the dried on blood.

   Fred ran his fingers through his hair and turned around, letting the air hiss between his lips. George put his hands on the edge of Kim’s cot down by her feet, gripping until his knuckles were white.

   “It’s okay,” Kim said quietly. She cleared her throat to try and get a better handle on her voice. “I should’ve been able to stop him. I knew he was going to attack me, I’m just… I’m just not very good with-…” but her voice was betraying her already, her throat getting too tight to speak through.

   George bit down hard and stared at a fixed point somewhere near the floor while Fred turned back to face them.

   “No, don’t blame yourself. It’s our fault for not being there.”

   “You can’t be there all the time. That’s stupid. And I’m not a child. I can take care of mys—”

   “I’m not saying you can’t,” Fred said. “Don’t get me wrong, Kim, but would it not have been nice to have some back up tonight?” Kim looked up at him and caught the smile spreading across his face. “Yes?” he encouraged, bending a bit to get a better angle to look at Kim’s face and the smile that was spreading across it despite herself. It was a painful smile, one that made her feel both better and worse at the same time. She nodded and covered her mouth with her fingers.

   “Yeah,” she said.

   “It’s got nothing to do with how good you are with spells. It has to do with you being our friend,” he said firmly.

   At this the tears sprung from Kim’s eyes and she let out a small cry, leaning forward and pressing her forehead against Fred’s arm. He pulled her into a hug in which her tears and blood stained face was pressed against his chest. Kim held out her free arm to George who was standing right beside Fred and pulled him in too, feeling his hand land on her shoulder comfortingly.

   “I don’t want you to do anything,” Kim said, her voice muffled by Fred’s chest.

   “Well, we’re not gonna do just _anything._ We’ll do something very specific for the lovely Victoria,” Fred said, giving Kim’s shoulder a light pat and releasing her.

   “I don’t want you doing anything,” Kim repeated with a bit more force.

   “Why?”

   “What good is it going to do? I’ll tell McGonagall exactly what happened, who was involved. I don’t want either of you doing anything else to get you _or me_ in any more trouble. I don’t want to give them any more reason to do _this_ again.”

   “She has a point,” George said.

   “Fine,” Fred said. “Whatever you want… I’m really sorry Kim.”

   “It’s okay,” Kim said, rubbing her checks again to smear away tears. “Really. I’m okay now. But… as long as Madam Pomfrey says its okay, I think I’m going to stay here for the night.”

   The idea of going back up to Ravenclaw Tower to climb into bed in the same room as Victoria made her skin crawl. Fred and George were looking at her sorrowfully now. She forced a smile for them, sincerely hoping that they would believe she was going to be alright and that none of this was their fault. She had taken those Itching Puss Rocks on her own volition and put them under Victoria’s pillow. No one had made her. She had wanted to. She had to claim responsibility for this.

   “You sure you’re going to be alright in here by yourself?” George asked one last time before they were about to leave.

   “I’ll be fine. Thanks for, you know… being here,” Kim said, forcing another meek smile, which George returned with his own equally tight looking expression. He then followed Fred from the room, and Kim was alone again for the night.


	12. Kitchens

Chapter 12

Kitchens

   Kim woke to the sound of fluttering wings and small clawed feet on her chest. Her eyes lulled open to see Strix hop here and there on the bed sheets, but they weren’t the bed sheets of her dormitory bed. She then realized she was still inside the infirmary, and the events of the night before came rushing in. Kim groaned, confused by Strix’s presence, until she glanced up with a light start to see Clemon standing apprehensively by her bedside.

   “He really did you in,” she said quietly, looking apologetic. Kim swallowed hard, her throat still a bit soar but mostly fine. She looked meaningfully at Strix, whose wide yellow eyes seemed almost concerned. She gave a small coo that made Kim smile.

   “Vic was trying to get at it, so…”

   “At Strix?” Kim asked, sitting up with concern.

   Clemon nodded, still looking apologetic and now a bit ashamed. “She couldn’t though. It just kept flying around the room away from her, like it knew she was no good. Then it landed on my shoulder so I figured I should… bring it to you.”

   “Oh… thank you.” She ran a hand along the top of Strix’s head, rejoicing silently at how clever Strix was, and whispered, “I’m sorry I left you alone last night.”

   “Kim, I-… I don’t know what Victoria told you… She’s truly evil, by the way. I can’t believe she would… even after what you did, I still can’t believe…”

   “She told you what she did?”

   “Not really, but…” Clemon gestured to Kim’s face and she realized she must still have blood stains on it. She let out a frustrated sigh and tried to wipe her cheek, even though she knew it would do no good.

   “Here,” Clemon said, lifting her wand to Kim’s face. She froze. For a split second, she wondered if she was about to be hexed. But then she remembered, Clemon was her friend… she was safe.

   “Lavaciem,” she said, and a small spurt of water arched elegantly from her wand and covered Kim’s face with a refreshing and fast splash. Then it all evaporated away into glistening nothingness. “There you go.”

   “Thanks,” Kim said, glancing at herself in the mirror across the room to see that her face was clean again.

   “Kim, look… I’m really sorry. I don’t know if she told you, but I’m the one who told Vic you were muggle born. But I didn’t mean any harm by it! I had no idea she cared about stupid stuff like that, you have to believe me. If I did, I wouldn’t have waited my time with her.”

   “It’s okay,” Kim said. “I believe you. It’s not your fault anyway, I’m the one who put that stuff under her pillow.”

   “…Which was utterly idiotic by the way. But I can’t help but feeling a bit responsible. Since I told her off that one day…”

   Kim laughed a little, but Professor McGonagall coming through the doors interrupted anything she might’ve said in response.

   “Good,” she said, walking to Kim’s bedside. “You’re awake. I need you to tell me what happened last night, who was involved.”

   Kim’s smile faded. Clemon motioned to the door, muttering something about needed to go, to which Kim nodded. She then explained the situation to professor McGonagall. She explained that she and Victoria had bad history, that Kim had played a bad prank on her in poor taste, though she left out Fred and George’s involvement. Judging by McGonagall’s expression, she could infer that much without pressing anyway. Kim then told her how Victoria and Mile’s had cornered Kim in the hallway, how Victoria had called her a mudblood and said that was why she couldn’t let her grudge go. Then she told McGonagall the spells Miles had used on her, or at least the effects of them when she couldn’t remember the incantation.

   Kim was then sent up to the dormitory that was thankfully empty. The idea of Victoria sitting there on her bed, waiting for Kim to walk through the doorway like a spider in her web made Kim’s stomach squirm. She knew she was going to have to face her eventually, and she would have to face her _here,_ the place that was supposed to be home to her.

   Fred and George didn’t stop looking pitifully at her for the next day and a half. She appreciated their concern for her. In fact she didn’t know what she’d do without them at this point. If they hadn’t been there that night, hadn’t run down to the medical wing to simply be by her side, simply keep her from being _alone._ But she wished they would let go of the guilt. She wished they would stop looking at her like a bird with broken wings.

   Then Thursday afternoon came around and Kim headed for Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Hermione was about just as bad as Fred and George when it came to shooting Kim sorry looks. Harry was only marginally better, but at least Ron was acting normal. When they sat down in Professor Moody’s class, he leaned over to Kim with a smirk.

   “You should tell Moody about what happened,” he murmured. “Maybe he’d turn Victoria into a ferret.”

   Kim made a face of both amusement and bewilderment, shaking her head. But it didn’t last because this reminded her of another issue relating to Professor Moody. Harry had told him that Kim gave Harry information about the dragons. Moody hadn’t said anything to her yet, but she also hadn’t seen him until now. But when he staggered into class and began lecture, his magic eye swiveling around wildly, it didn’t land on her for any unusual amount of time. The class passed by as usual. Kim even flinched when Moody dismissed class because she was so certain he would ask to speak with her after, but he didn’t.

   “I can’t believe he didn’t say anything to me,” Kim murmured to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

   Harry shrugged. “He didn’t seem that upset at me for knowing the challenge ahead of time either.”

   “No surprise there,” Ron said with a smile. “I bet he’s rooting for Harry, like everyone else. Right?” He nudged Harry in the shoulder.

   “Suck up,” Kim said, rolling her eyes, but she smiled all the same.

* * *

   Kim sat down in Magical Creatures with Intelligence class the following week. She sat with Luna, as always, and turned to face Professor Maddox who clasped her hands before her and drew in the attention of the class.

   “Today, I have a special surprise for you. Since we’ve been discussing the differences between creatures that have been offered being status and have actually accepted it, versus those that have rejected being status such as the centaur, I thought it would be appropriate for you to meet a creature whose people have done just that. Andasoe. Who can tell me about them,” Professor Maddox said, raising her hand in recruitment of student volunteer.

   The name sounded very familiar to Kim, so she blinked and searched through her mind for a moment. She felt as though she knew, but hesitated still.

   “Anyone?”

   Finally Kim raised her hand. Couldn’t hurt to be wrong if no one else seemed to know either.

   “Aren’t they sentient forest dwelling creatures?” Kim said when Maddox pointed to her. “The males have antlers but otherwise fairly humanoid forms.”

   Professor Maddox smiled knowingly and hummed in a kind of agreement. “The text books would tell you that,” she remarked, almost to herself. “Well… you’ll see for yourself. Cane,” she called, tilting her head toward the door at the back of the classroom behind her. “You can come in now.”

   The door opened and a tall, muscled young man walked through the door. Kim could tell he was muscled for certain because he didn’t have a shirt on, or shoes for that matter. There was nothing on his body except a very simple pair of cloth pants that were tattered and warn, and black ink that wove across his shoulders and arms in winding patters. None of that was of any real consequence however, compared to his eyes. They were a piercing green, and not in a way that was possible, natural. They were _alive_. Thriving, growing, they were the cycle of birth and death and rebirth again. They were nature, and life. Kim felt a shudder pass down her spine and settling in her gut as the shimmering green eyes settled on hers. Everything in her human body wanted to look away, blush, be embarrassed, ashamed. But she couldn’t. Her eyes held contact until he looked away. The feeling of being pressed beneath an invisible magic was so real she let out a labored breath when their gazes finally broke.

   “He’s got quite nice horns,” Luna whispered, a pleasant smile on her face as usual. Kim had trouble looking at anything other than his chiseled features. Now that she wasn’t locked into a spiraling green ellipse, she could see that Cane, as Professor Maddox had called him, had youthful yet sharp features. His nose was jagged and his chin dimpled. He had two medium sized deer horns sprouting from his head, the base shrouded in waves of medium length, soft brown hair.

   “This is Cane,” Professor Maddox introduced. “He has graciously agreed to speak with us about why his people have decided to reject being status. Please, Cane, go ahead.”

   He looked at his feet, shifting in position as he clasped his hands before him, a small uncomfortable smile flicking across his lips. Kim thought it was an incredibly human looking gesture, until his eyes flicked back up to the class.

   “Hello,” he said, his voice level and calm. “I’m here to tell you about not being human. A bit awkward, as you could imagine, since I’m the only non-human here,” he said with a small smile, making Kim and a few others laugh lightly for his sake.

   “As you can see, I’m perfectly capable of speaking with you. I’ve learned your language. I know your expressions,” he said slowly, beginning to take measured steps forward. “I can understand you. I can _feel_ what you feel, I can empathize with human emotions.”

   He stopped moving forward, now standing immediately beside the front row of desks, and directly in front of Kim who was in the second row. His green eyes landed on her.

   “You might even say that my body is almost human,” he said, pressing his fingers against his ribs. Kim didn’t move a muscle. He continued in his pacing between the desks, yet again breaking their eye contact when Kim was unable.

   “It’s for these reasons that Andasoes were offered being status. How thoughtful of you humans to grant us such a… _high_ honor. Andasoes refused. It’s our way of life to believe that we are not above anything. That we are one piece of this planet, what you call… _Earth._ We have a different word for it, a word that roughly translates to _everything._ Because we believe that this world _is_ everything, and we are a part of that, but we do not _make up_ that. No one person, or group of persons can make up everything. To call ourselves beings, would be to set ourselves above the trees. Above the soil. Above the earth. And that goes against our most fundamental creed. It’s for this reason that Andasoes have rejected the terms humans have offered us,” he said, coming to the front of the class and crossing his arms before his chest.

   “Were we live, in the soil and with the trees, we have no need for ridiculous labels, made to describe a puzzle for which you are merely pieces of.”

   Kim felt a bit breathless. She simply watched, wide eyed, as Cane’s eyes flicked from person to person, nostrils flaring a bit as he drew in breathe.

   “Thank you, Cane. Very well said,” Professor Maddox said, waving her arm gently to the door again. He gave her a polite nod and left the classroom. Professor Maddox delved into a lecture about the intricacies of magical law and the reasons that wizards began trying to define beings in the first place, the downfalls of this endeavor, the benefits. Kim found herself having a hard time paying attention though. She found herself lost in thoughts of lush leaves and deep, dense forest that one could become tangled and lost in.

   By the time she was heading down for dinner, however, the seemingly magical haze was clearing. She squeezed in between Fred and George and began to eat, but didn’t get very far before Fred was sliding her a package.

   “What this time?” Kim grumbled, mostly joking but also feeling some real apprehension.

   “It’s the herbs you asked for,” George explained.

   “It is? You got it all…” Kim realized, opening the pouch and looking at the contents. She tucked it into her bag. She was glad that now she could finally do some divination properly. Perhaps she would be able to coax out another vision about the Triwizard Tournament since it didn’t seem like Harry had even begun to figure out his golden egg clue yet. But still there was a pang of sadness with this gift, and it only took her a moment to realize what it was.

   “Yeah,” Fred said. “Now you can try and see what’s going to happen with Bagman. We’re going to try and talk to him again soon.”

   “Right, okay… but you went without me,” she said sadly. Then her voice hardened when neither of them responded. “Okay. This has got to stop. You two went without me because you were worried about me getting in trouble again. You think everything is going to be too much for me ever since I got attacked, but you _don’t_ need to baby me!”

   Fred glanced from Kim to George and then back again. “Or,” he said lightly, “George and I saw an opportunity to pilfer the goods while Sprout was busy with a flutterby bush incident. Just a suggestion. Since we were there and all.”

   “And you weren’t,” George added.

   Kim groaned. “Well you’ve both been acting odd ever since.”

   Fred glanced over his shoulder, eyes tightening in the direction where Miles no doubt sat across the hall. “Doesn’t help they only gave that ass some detention. Should’ve been expelled.”

   “You _sound_ like Hermione,” Kim retorted.

   “You don’t want to see him gone too?” George asked.

   “Yeah, du. But there’s nothing I can do- and _nothing_ I’m going to let you do,” Kim said, swiveling on Fred and holding up a finger to his face before his open mouth could start to offer some hair brained scheme of vengeance.

   “What about with Victoria?” George asked.

   “What about her?” Kim said, guardedly.

   “You sleep in the same room as her. Aren’t you worried she’s going to yank your teeth out in your sleep or something,” Fred said. Kim’s jaw tightened reflexively.

   “Thanks for that lovely image to haunt me at night. I really needed that.”

   “I didn’t mean to-” Fred said, making Kim let out a frustrated sigh.

   “I know what you meant. And I’ve dealt with it. At first I couldn’t sleep. But, you know, I got over it… Nothing bad has happened so far. She got Miles to do her dirty work in the first place for a reason I figure. Since then it’s pretty much just been dirty looks and the occasional snide comment, but never loud enough that it could be taken as instigative.”

   “I’m just saying, if you wanted we could easily slip her—”

   “Don’t. Even. Think about it,” Kim said. “Can we please never talk about this again now? Please?”

   “Is that what you want?” George asked, seeming sincere.

   “ _Yes._ I just want to _move on_ and go back to how things were. Just go back to normal, please.”

   “Okay,” George said with a shrug.

   “You’re wish is my command,” Fred agreed with a sigh, as if he deeply regretted not having the chance to slip Victoria _whatever it was_ , but Kim felt he still intended to follow through with his word.

* * *

   It was Monday the following week that Kim and Hermione were sitting across from one another in the library. Kim was attempting not to fake her Divinations homework, but it was rather hard when it had turned into astrological nonsense that Kim felt sure Professor Trelawney didn’t even begin to understand, let alone Kim herself. And she certainly made faking homework very tempting by making it so _easy_. Evidently Harry and Ron had been getting by all semester that way.

   “Kim, do you know where blast ended skrewts come from? I can’t find information about them anywhere,” Hermione said. Kim looked up from her homework to see that Hermione was pouring through a magical creature’s dictionary. She cleared her throat and looked around before leaning in.

   “That’s because they don’t exist… technically,” Kim hissed, bobbing her head to the side.

   “What do you mean?”

   Kim took a taxing breath. “What I mean is… Hagrid breaded two separate species together… illegally. _Do not_ repeated this.” As she was saying this Hermione was rolling her head and her eyes simultaneously and then plopping her forehead into her cupped hand with a groan.

   “What are we going to do with him?”

   Kim chuckled. “I know. Why the interest all of a sudden?”

   “Rita Skeeter.”

   “That journalist lady?”

   “She’s been poking around where she doesn’t belong.”

   “As usual.”

   “Exactly,” Hermione said, closing the textbook with a thud. “If she finds about Hagrid’s… experiment… He’ll get in trouble, won’t he?”

   “Yeah, probably. Unless Dumbledore can keep him out. But don’t worry too much Hermione. I already yap his ear off on the regular about it. I’ve told him at least a hundred times _never_ to mention that he bred the skrewts, especially with Malfoy in his other class period.”

   Hermione flicked her eyebrows up in agreement. She looked off as if thinking about something for a little while, during which Kim thought it would be alright to go back to her homework.

   “Kim…” Hermione began slowly. Evidently Kim had been wrong. She set down her quill a bit forcefully and looked dup. “I’m sorry,” Hermione tacked on with wide eyes.

   “It’s all right. What is it?”

   “I was just wondering… Fred and George know how to get into the kitchen?” she asked.

   “Yes,” Kim said, drawing it out.

   “Do _you_?”

   “No, but I’m sure I could ask. They’d show me… Why?”

   “Well… I was just thinking it might be time to…”

   “This is about the house elves, isn’t it?”

   “You’re on my side, aren’t you?” Hermione begged.

   Kim sighed. She honestly wasn’t sure. She understood Hermione’s opinion on the matter. Certainly the idea of enslaving creatures against their will was disturbing. But on the other hand, everyone else seemed certain they _enjoyed_ it. And who was Kim to question the varying cultures of different magical beings?

   “Okay, here’s the deal,” Kim said, very businesslike. Hermione listened intently. “I will convince Fred and George to get us into the kitchen, during which you will be _quiet_ because you will probably say something that will convince them otherwise. Then we will go _talk_ to the house elves. We will _ask_ them how they like it here at Hogwarts and how they feel about their enslavement. That is all. No rallying. Nothing extreme.”

   “Yet,” Hermione added on, to which Kim sighed.

   “Yet,” she allowed.

   “Deal.”

   “Wait here,” Kim said as she rose up and headed to the Gryffindor common room where she knew Fred and George were within. She waited for someone to come out, which didn’t take long since it was still fairly early in the evening, and she asked them to go inside and get Fred and George for her. She’d done this before a few times, and when people refused she either threatened them with dung bombs or simply yelled out to the twins who she could usually see perched together on a couch beyond the portrait, catching their attention before it closed.

   “Why are we going to the library?” Fred asked as she led them.

   “We’re not going to the library. It’s simply a stop along the way.”

   “Where are we going then?” George said.

   “The kitchen.”

   “Fancy a midnight snack then,” Fred said.

   Kim smirked at him. “Sure, let’s go with that.”

   “What are you up to,” he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at her.

   “When am I ever up to anything?” she said innocently.

   “Usually never,” George said. “That’s why it’s so suspicious when you are.”

   “I just want you to see me and Hermione into the kitchen, that’s all. Is that such a big deal? Or is it some huge secret?”

   “Not really,” Fred said slowly, though he didn’t sound certain. “But why Hermione? If the whole school knows about it, they’ll change the entrance.”

   “You saying you two wouldn’t be able to figure it out if they did,” she said, flashing them a winning smile.

   “Well,” Fred said, touching his chest. “I didn’t say _that_.”

   “Besides, Hermione’s the perfect person to tell. She’ll never use it. She’s too much of a goody goody. Right?”

   They booth shrugged, seeming placated by this. By this time they had just reached the library, at which point they collected Hermione and headed down to the kitchen.

   “Wait a minute!” Fred said as they walked, making Kim winced. She knew it would only take them so long to fall out of the false sense of security she’d lulled them into. “Don’t tell me this is about that house elf nonsense.”

   “It’s not nonsense,” Hermione blurted out, to which Kim shot her a warning look.

   “Our agreement,” she reminded her in a murmur. Then she faced Fred. “Relax. I’ll make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”

   “You’re going along with this?” George asked, sounding a bit betrayed.

   “Hey! I’ve never seen the house elves for myself! I just want to ask them a few questions. See what they think about things here.”

   “We already told you, they _like_ it—”

   “I know you’ve told me,” Kim interrupted. “I want to see for myself. Is that alright with you?”

   Fred looked like he was struggled rather hard. “Fine,” he finally groaned, and led them the rest of the way down an unfamiliar hallway. They stopped before a painting of a large bowl of fruit. Fred reached out to the pair in the painting and performed a tickling motion along its edge. Kim frowned in surprise as the pear began to chuckle and squirm, morphing into a green door handle.

   “How’d you figure _that_ out?” Kim asked skeptically as Fred swung open the painting that was now a door. He looked at her with a lazy, pleased with himself expression.

   “We always go around tickling fruit,” George answered as he walked past Kim, making her snort as she followed him into the kitchen. Kim looked around with wide eyes because the room was _enormous._ It was the biggest kitchen Kim had ever seen, by far, with a high ceiling and shiny brass pans. There were half human sized creatures trotting about on bare feet, big ears flopping and large eyes blinking up at the visitors with curious expressions. _So these are house elves._

   “Hello masters,” said a blue eyed elf who rung her fingers shyly as she approached. “What can we be doing for you?”

   “Tangle,” Fred said in greeting, closing the painting behind them. “I could go for a hot drink I think.”

   “Oh, hello Master Fred,” Tangle said, seeming delighted to see him and much less nervous now, dropping her hands and beginning to rock back and forth from her heels to her toes. “Did you bring friends for a hot drink too?”

   Fred looked at Kim in questioning.

   “Uh, oh… N-no I’m fine,” Kim said awkwardly to Tangle. “Thank you.”

   Hermione was glaring at Fred fiercely enough to burn a hole in his head, so Kim wasn’t about to direct that fire at herself.

   “Suit yourself,” Fred said with a shrug, pushing himself up to sit on one of the long counters.

   “Shall I be making you and Master George a cup of tea then?” Tangle asked, smiling.

   “Yes please, Tangle,” Fred said, George coming to lean against the counter beside his brother, arms folded across his chest. Kim cleared her throat and turned to another elf that was cleaning a countertop meticulously.

   “So… how do you… like it here?” Kim asked. The elf looked up at Kim with surprise, but then seemed pleased at the chance to answer a question. He paused in his scrubbing to turn fully to Kim.

   “Oh, me? Yes, I is liking it very much. Always has been, for years and years and years.”

   “So you’ve been here for a long time?” Kim asked.

   The elf nodded vigorously. “All my life.”

   “And you’ve never considered leaving?”

   At this he looked rather uncomfortable. “Of course not!” he said, sounding insulted. “Birdy is a _good_ elf. Birdy would _never_ leave Hogwarts. How would all the fine students be fed?”

   “I suppose they’d find someone else to do it… Maybe pay a cook…”

   “No, no, no, no, _no_. Birdy couldn’t leave. Birdy _wouldn’t_!”

   "So, are you saying that you wouldn’t want to leave? What I’m asking is, do you _enjoy_ working here?” Again, Birdy nodded vigorously. “If, say, you were _unable_ to work here any longer, what would you do with your free time? What other things do you enjoy?”

   Birdy looked like he was giving this some thought, but was struggling. “N-nothing Miss. Nothing! I’m not liking anything more than I’m liking it here at Hogwarts. I is having nothing to do with myself without it! What a terrible thing indeed!” he said, sounding rather distraught now.

   “Uh, sorry. It was all hypothetical, of course. I’m collecting information about house elves and their work habits, that’s all. Nothing to be alarmed about.”

   “Oh! That’s quite a relief, then. Is there anything else I can be doing for you, Miss?”

   “No, thank you,” Kim said and turned to face Hermione who had been standing nearby, listening to the whole conversation. Kim put her hands on her hips pointedly. Hermione didn’t resign her look of determined disagreement, so Kim gestured to Birdy who was again scrubbing away as if to say _there you have it! Strait from the horse’s mouth!_

   “They don’t understand,” Hermione whispered insistently.

   “Don’t understand what? How do you know _you_ don’t understand? What if all house elves want to do is work? And humans, while our using them is admittedly opportunistic, it’s really a symbiotic relationship if you look at it that way.”

   “What?” Hermione said, shaking her head. “That’s nonsense. House elves are slaves. They don’t know what they’re missing out on because they’ve been _taught_ to think this is all there meant for!”

   Kim heaved a heavy sigh.

   “You’re wasting your breath,” Fred said.

   “She’ll never learn,” George added, and then both of them took a long swig of tea at the identical time. Kim shook her head as Hermione walked past her.

   “Is that-… _Dobby_?” Hermione said, crossing the room to where a very strange house elf stood. He was wearing a hodgepodge of clothing, including a tea cozy atop his head and a horseshoe tie around his bare neck and chest.

   “I _is_ Dobby, but, I’m sorry, who are you?” said the odd elf.

   “My name is Hermione. I’m a friend of Harry Potter! He told me that you were a free elf, and when I saw you with clothes I thought…”

   “Did you say Harry Potter?” Dobby asked, sounding as if it were too good to be true. Hermione nodded, and before she could get out a word, Dobby burst with excitement, “Could you bring him here to see Dobby? Dobby has missed Mr. Harry Potter so very much!”

   “Sure! I can go and get him now,” Hermione said, and then recognized _another_ house elf to the left of Dobby. She was beginning a conversation with her when Kim’s attention was drawn from them by Fred and George pushing off the counter and approaching her.

   “Satisfied?” Fred said.

   “Believe us now?” said George. Kim pursed her lips and eyed them both in response. “You think if we’d come in here and found little elves working to the crack of a whip, miserable, we would’ve been happy to demand food and go on with things?”

   Kim’s expression softened. “It’s not that I didn’t believe you. I more just wanted to show Hermione. I thought it would change her mind about the whole thing, but apparently not… But I mean, if the elves are happy as they are, who are we to decide they shouldn’t be?”

   “Exactly,” Fred agreed.

   “I’m going to go find Harry and Ron,” Hermione said excitedly. Something had brightened her spirits quite a bit from moments ago.

   “You can let yourself back in. We’re off,” Fred said, moving to the exit. Kim followed them out.

   “I’ll see you later Hermione,” Kim said, as Hermione rushed off to find Harry and Ron. She walked out of the unfamiliar section of the castle with Fred and George, pondering all the while on the house elves and their position in the world.

   “You know,” Kim finally said. “In one of my classes, we learned that there are magical creatures that have been awarded being status, but deny it. They reject it, they don’t want it. Don’t want to be like us, humans. They think our definitions of what is or isn’t important are stupid… maybe the house elves are like that. Maybe they just don’t want to be like us… Maybe they’re just happy being different.”

   “That’s an awful lot of thinking for a Monday night,” Fred said with a rueful smile, but it slid into a genuine one. “Maybe you’re right.”

   “Who would’ve thought school was good for something after all, Fred,” said George.


	13. The Good Ones Will Be Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late!

Chapter 13

The Good Ones Will Be Gone

   Kim was deep in a trans-like state. Her nose was full with the scent of burning herbs and her mind was drifting elsewhere. She could just feel herself falling. At first it didn’t seem to be anything. Like a dream during deep sleep, nonsense and lost thoughts. But then it started to feel more real. Like she had a body and flesh, and she was really falling. And then—

   “Agh! What is all this? What are _you_ doing?” came a presumptuous voice. Kim’s eyes snapped open. Being taken out of her trance was like having the back of her neck yanked upwards to pull her from sleep. Victoria was lowering her hand from where she’d been swatting away smoke, eyes narrow and aimed at Kim.

   “Extra credit,” Kim said plainly. “What do you want?”

   “You can’t smoke up the dormitory, Kim. You’re lucky I don’t take this strait to Flitwick.”

   “It’s just some incense, Victoria. Last time I checked that doesn’t rank up with hired assault.”

   Victoria gritted her teeth. She looked like she wanted to say more, but was too afraid. Kim smirked at her. It was in these kinds of situations that Victoria’s true weakness showed. She wasn’t brave. She wasn’t even willing to go against the rules, really. That’s why she always needed others to do her work for her.

   “You know you talk a big game, Victoria,” Kim said, tossing the ash out the window and storing the remaining unburnt herbs in her trunk as Strix flapped to land on her shoulder. “I remember you telling me I wouldn’t be so brave without Fred and George with me, or something like that… I’m starting to think you were projecting,” she said with a flick of her brows, her posture embodying the mantra, _come and face me one on one_ as much as possible. But Victoria just stared, a bit wide eyed in return. “Have a nice day,” Kim said with a flash of a smile just before she turned to leave.

   She went down to the lunch table and sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, satisfied with herself and feeling rather courageous. In the Great hall, word of the Yule Ball had officially caught like flame and was spreading through the chamber, a virus of decorum, nerves, and, hormones.

   “Any luck with the visions?” Ron asked as Kim started to eat.

   “No,” Kim said, shaking her head, dejected.

   “Still?”

   “It’s not exactly a walk in the park, Ron. I mean, this isn’t fourth year divination we’re talking about, what was the last thing you pulled out of your ass besides some made up prediction about Mars and impending doom,” she snipped.

   “Cheeky,” Ron muttered, grimacing a little.

   “All I’m saying is, I’m doing my best.” At this she sighed. She had _tried_ to induce a vision related to the Triwizard Tournament more than once now, and even when he wasn’t being interrupted by Victorioa, it didn’t work. She either got nothing, or random flickers, images with no context that had nothing to do with Harry or anything that Kim could understand.

   “It’s alright, Kim. I can just figure out the egg like everyone else,” Harry said.

   “Really, it’s what you _should_ do anyway,” Hermione said. “And you _should_ be thinking about it.”

   “Come on, Hermione, I’ve got till February the 24th,” Harry said.

   “But it might take weeks to work it out! You’re going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don’t!”

   “Well, I’m going to attempt to hone my divination abilities,” Kim said. “I just don’t know if it’ll work, or how long it’ll take.” As she was talking Fred and George came to either side of her and legged their way in, forcing Ron to scoot over.

   “Hey guys,” Kim greeted. They both nodded at her, grabbing plates.

   “Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?” George asked.

   “No, he’s off delivering a letter. Why?”

   “Because George wants to invite him to the ball,” said Fred sarcastically.

   “Because _we_ want to send a letter, you stupid great prat,” said George.

   “Who d’you two keep writing to, eh?” said Ron.

   “Nose out, Ron, or I’ll turn it to a trunk,” Fred said.

   “Why are you sending another letter?” Kim muttered to Fred. She assumed all of this was about Bagman, thus the secrecy. “You think it’ll do any good? Considering he never read the last one.”

   “Can’t hurt to try,” Fred said.

   “How come she’s in on it,” Ron said, almost accusingly.

   “Oh, hush,” Kim said, rolling her eyes. Just then the piece of chicken that George was trying to tear free from its larger counterpart produced a large spurt of juice, some of which landed on Kim’s face. She squinted and made a small sound of disgust as George looked at her, seeming both amused and a bit sorry.

   “ _Gross_ ,” she said, looking accusingly at George who was chuckling at her as she wiped the juice away with her napkin. He reached up and grazed her cheek with his thumb, laughter still in his features.

   “You, uh, missed,” he muttered, smiling mischievously. Kim froze, momentarily struck still by the thrill of his fingertips against her skin. She then dipped her fingers into her water glass hastily and flicked it at George’s face, making him squint and pull back. They both laughed as he grabbed her hands lightly to stop her from assaulting him with more water. Their eyes met then, facing each other as they were, with him holding her wrists. Suddenly Kim’s heart was stuttering and it wasn’t from laughter. She watched as his expression tightened and then his gaze slid upwards, towards where Fred was sitting behind Kim. He let go of Kim’s hands hastily and turned back to his food, as Kim also tried to do. When she glanced up at Fred though, she couldn’t help but notice his sideways glance, almost looking disappointed, with a nearly undetectable eye role and a shake of his head.

* * *

   It really was becoming maddening, everyone obsessing over the ball. Kim was becoming sure that no one would ask her. She couldn’t think of who would. There was Fred and George, her best friends, two boys who she felt inseparably close to. She didn’t think she’d mind going with either of them. But Fred was too cocky to ask a girl like her. He’d more likely ask the prettiest girl in his year. And George was too shy. And that was assuming either of them had interest, which Kim was quite certain they didn’t. Once they were crossed off her list, there was really no one left.

   But she must’ve had some fools hope left because she decided to stay over Christmas break at Hogwarts anyway. It had been a battle with her mother through letters, but eventually she agreed, as long as Kim was home for the summer. She really wasn’t sure why she’d bothered fighting the battle, since the ball was now nearly a week away, and still she was no closer to having a date. She certainly didn’t want to be the only one to show up without one, and everyone else seemed to be managing just fine. On the other hand, she also didn’t want it to be just anyone who asked her.

   “What’s this all about?” George asked again. He, Kim and Fred were all making their way across the grounds to _something_ that was supposedly quite important, according to Fred.

   “If I had known we were going outside, I would have brought more clothes,” Kim complained, rubbing her arms. She was wearing a light sweater and jeans, but that was all, and in the middle of winter as it was, that was _not_ enough for outside.

   “Did I forget to mention that? Silly me,” Fred said overdramatically. Kim didn’t understand, but she didn’t ask.

   “Oh! You know, I seem to’ve forgotten something,” Fred said, stopping abruptly. She thought he was still talking about her winter clothes and was patronizing her, but then he took a step toward a stone bench and said, “Why don’t you two take a seat?”

   George and Kim looked at each other like this was probably some kind of trap, shrugged, and then moved to the bench. Once he was satisfied that they were going to sit, Fred started back towards the castle.

   “Don’t move,” he said over his shoulder. “Be back in a bit.”

   “In a bit… What’s he on about?” George said, watching after his brother in bafflement.

   “You’re not in on this?” Kim asked.

   “Dunno what _this_ is.”

   “I thought it had something to do with Bagman maybe,” Kim said scornfully.

   “So did I…” said George, equally let down. They sat quiet for a moment, Kim’s arms starting to shake rather dramatically from the cold. She was clenching her jaw so tight to keep from chattering it was giving her a headache.

   “You want to go inside? You’re freezing,” George said, leaning slightly closer. Kim leaned in too, because it felt like her skin would jump off her bones if it meant being an inch closer to warmth.

   “N-no,” Kim said. “It’s fine. Let’s w-wait and see if he comes back.”

   “So…” George began after a pause. “You going to the ball with anybody?”

   Kim’s heart felt like it was convulsing. “No… I’m not really sure I’m going,” she said. It was an involuntary response. She didn’t want to sound like she didn’t have anyone to go with because she couldn’t find someone.

   “Oh… Balls not really your thing?” he asked, and then faltered. Kim made a face, realized what he’d just said and snickering. “I- I meant Yule Balls.”

   “Right,” Kim said laughing. George laughed a bit too, though it sounded a little strained. “No, there not really my thing, I guess.”

   George just nodded, staring at the ground. “Right. Me neither. I’m only going for the Weird Sisters,” he said, referring to the musical group that was supposed to be playing at the ball.

   “Yeah… should be cool…” Kim agreed, though she had no idea if it would be or not. She’d never heard of the Weird Sisters until lately when everyone had been talking about how great they were, but she wasn’t about to admit that now. Something about this moment made her feel like she had something to prove, and she didn’t know where the pressure was coming from really. This was George. She knew him, knew him really well. She didn’t have to try to make herself sound cooler. But still her tongue did it anyway.

   There was another pause of silence before they heard footsteps approaching. It was Fred coming back from the castle.

   “Hello, you two,” he said, a little more cheerfully than the greeting seemed to require, in Kim’s opinion. He clapped his hand against Kim and George’s shoulder and leaned down so his head was just above them, squeezing them together slightly, pressing them shoulder to shoulder.

   “Anything happen while I was gone?” he asked. Kim looked suspiciously at George, who was now very close to her, though Kim wasn’t complaining. She was still freezing. George looked just as baffled as she did.

   “No?” Kim said.

   Fred released them, moving around to stand before them as he said, “Nothing at all?”

   “What’re you on about?” George asked.

   Fred sighed, looking discouraged and a bit frustrated at George. “I have to do everything myself, don’t I…”

   “You slipped and hit your head. Better get him to Madam Pomfrey, Kim, though I’m not sure she can cure daftness,” George said, standing and slapping his knees matter-o-factly. Kim stood as well, snickering.

   “What did you bring us out here for?” she asked.

   “Oh, um… It’s gone,” Fred said with a shrug, starting to walk back toward the castle.

   “What?” Kim said, both she and George following with utterly confused expressions.

   “It’s gone. What I was going to show you. Real shame too. You’d’ve loved it. Ah well.”

   “Well… What was it?” Kim asked.

   “It’s a surprise.”

   At this response, Kim finally gave up, shaking her head and looking at George with her face screwed up as if to say _what is wrong with your brother?_ He shrugged in response and they didn’t press the matter any farther.

* * *

   It was a few days later, with the end of term only days away, that she was sitting in the library study room with the twins, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry and Ron were hissing about something to each other, which was rather distracting Kim from her homework, which she had a lot of because they were so near to the end of term. She looked up and saw that Fred was looking at her from where he sat across the table. When their eyes met, he didn’t look away as she would’ve expected. His expression was cool and appraising. Kim didn’t think she’d ever gotten this look from him and she wasn’t at all sure how to respond, but it was too late. He turned his head slowly, like someone who had things all plotted out in his mind, to Harry and Ron.

   “You lot got dates for the ball yet?” he asked in a low voice.

   “Nope,” Ron said.

   “Well, you’d better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone.”

   “Who’re you going with, then?” said Ron.

   Fred shrugged, like it was of no concern to him, and a calm smile spread across his face. He shifted his body from angling toward Harry and Ron to face strait forward to Kim. George, on Kim’s right, glanced up lazily at the exchange.

   “How ‘bout Kim?” Fred said, as if he were still talking to the other’s but his eyes were only on Kim.

   As for her, she wasn’t certain she was alive at all. Her heart had stopped beating. And her lungs had clenched shut. Whatever she had just heard couldn’t possibly mean what she thought it meant, so perhaps she’d finally lost her mind or was losing her hearing, or both. Perhaps she would simply _cease_ and she wouldn’t have to open her mouth to try and formulate a response.

   “Want to come to the ball with me?” he asked, a half smile sneaking onto his features that made Kim’s stomach somersault.

   “Uh, s-sure… I mean yeah… why not…” she managed to say, though her face felt numb.

   “There you go,” Fred said to Harry and Ron, “piece of cake.” With that he was rising out of his seat and nodding to George as he murmured, “Be in the common room,” to him. And then he left. Kim wanted to relax, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all still staring at her, and George was still there. Just then he shut his text book a bit firmly. Kim looked at him, surprised. His jaw was clenched tight and his nose a bit wrinkled like he had tasted something fowl. The expressions were small on his features, but they were so foreign in comparison to his usually gentle and unperturbed planes that they stuck out sorely to Kim. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but her words were still jumbled from moments before, and too soon he was stalking out of the study hall.

   Kim looked back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were snickering. Hermione was smiling kindly at least.

   “I told you you’d get a date,” Hermione said.

   “You must be better at divination than I am if you saw that coming,” Kim remarked, still shell shocked.

   “No,” Ron said, “just not blind as a mole.”

   Kim just shook her head and tried to go back to her studies, which mostly resulted in her poising her quill over one spot and letting it drip for a long time as she stared at the page blankly, eyes roving over its surface but not seeing anything. She didn’t think Ron was right, she wasn’t blind. Fred asking her to the ball was unexpected. George maybe, but _Fred_? And then there was the matter of how she felt about it. She had said yes. She could take it back if she wanted to. But she _didn’t_ want to. Not at all.

_I suppose that settles that then,_ she thought. And the more she thought about it the more and more she liked the idea of going with Fred. Fred who was fun, adventurous, clever, funny, ambitious. Wasn’t he just the kind of person to go to a ball with? The more Kim thought about it, the more her stomach filled up with an odd fluttering feeling that was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and was both oddly winding like a tightening coil, and scattering, like a thousand loose bits with nothing steady to gather them.

   The following days were full of excitement and discomfort. Kim had no idea what to think about Fred asking her to the ball, and she had no idea how to act now that he had. Once the term was over, she normally would have spent most of her time with the twins, but she now got nervous every time she considered going to sit with them. As a result, she found herself seeking out Harry, Ron, and Hermione quite a lot.

   She was doing just that one afternoon, sitting with Hermione in some arm chairs tucked behind the stairwell in the Entrance Hall. Her mind was buzzing over the usual things that preoccupied it as of late; Fred, the Ball, her friendship with the twins. The time she’d spent with them since Fred had asked her had felt odd. Like there was something different hanging in the air. Kim had already considered the idea that Fred was simply asking her to go as a friend. But why would he do that when he could easily ask any girl from his year, and most would probably say yes? And then there was his behavior. It was totally baffling. He would act normal, as if nothing had changed at all, and then without warning sneak in a devilish glance or a flirtatious comment.

_Hasn’t he always been like that though…_ Kim wondered. _But certainly it’s gotten more pronounced_ … George was doing the exact opposite of Fred. Instead of being a more amplified version of himself, he had completely diminished. He barley seemed present, and when he did it was still not as his full self. Like he was merely a reflection, going about the motions of the real George in his stead.

   Kim heaved a great sigh, making Hermione look up from her reading. She pursed her lips slightly and clapped her book shut.

   “What’s wrong?” she asked.

   “I’m just nervous… I guess I didn’t realize what it would mean if Fred asked me to the ball. I didn’t think it was possible so I didn’t bother to think about it much.”

   “What do you mean?”

   “Remember how you said friends can become more than friends?” Kim asked. Hermione looked off and pulled her lips to one side.

   “Yes, well… not so sure anymore.”

   “Why do you say that?” Kim asked, drawn from her own problems and intrigued by Hermione’s.

   “Oh, no reason really,” Hermione said, still not looking at Kim. “Sorry…”

   “Say, who _are_ you going to the ball with? I heard you got asked by Nevil but you said no. Did you?”

   “I did say no, because I’d already been asked by someone else,” Hermione said.

   “Who?” Kim asked, excitedly.

   Hermione dawned a sly expression as her gaze slid over to Kim. “If I tell you, you mustn’t tell Ron. Or Harry.”

   “Why not? I mean, sure I won’t, but why? I figured they’d know already.”

   “Because they’re being downright stupid about the whole thing,” she said sourly. “Ron doesn’t even believe that anyone’s asked me. I suppose he finds me _so_ unappealing that he can’t imagine anyone else would have asked.”

   “What? No, I can’t imagine he’d think that. You know Ron, he says stupid stuff all the time. He probably doesn’t mean it.”

   “Regardless. I don’t want the hassle. You won’t tell?” Kim nodded. “It’s Victor Krum.”

   Kim’s eyes widened. “ _What_?” she asked loudly, to which Hermione shushed her urgently. “Sorry,” Kim whispered. “ _Krum_ asked you?”

   Hermione nodded. “I know. It came as a shock to me as well. I don’t even _know_ him. But, that’s what the ball’s all about, right? So I said yes.”

   “Uh, du you said yes! Are you kidding me! I’ve only been familiar with this guy’s name for a year, and _I_ know he’s hugely famous.” Kim chuckled for a moment. “I can’t believe it. Ron’s going to shit himself.”

   Hermione smiled nervously. “I know. Perhaps that’ll teach him…” Kim looked at Hermione deviously, making her stammer. “N- not that I’m going with Krum for that reason! I’m just saying it’ll be nice to shut him up for once. He’s always on about how I’m plain…”

   “He doesn’t _say_ that!”

   “He _implies_ it! Serves him right, I hope he doesn’t find a date. Shouldn’t have waited until the last minute, _or_ been so picky. He should’ve asked a nice girl that he liked and got along with from the very beginning,” Hermione said, reopening her book and situating herself in her chair.

   “A nice girl like you,” Kim said, a knowing smile on her face as Hermione’s eyes darted up at Kim and then back to her book. She attempted to keep her face neutral.

   “Well… I would have gone with him, yes. If he had asked sooner. Anyway, just don’t tell them, alright?”

   “I won’t,” Kim said with a smile, sinking back into her arm chair.

* * *

   “I hope you know I’m not much of a dancer,” Kim blurted out. She was sitting between Fred and George at dinner one day, and the static of the position felt like it was charging her insides to explode. Fred looked at her with that cool expression that he now sometimes turned on her.

   “What?” he asked, smiling like what she’d said was funny. She knew it wasn’t, so why was he acting like it was?

   “I can’t dance. Don’t like to dance. I mean... It’s not that I don’t _like_ to dance, just that I don’t prefer it over other things… does that make sense?”

   “No,” Fred said with a small chuckle, smile widening.

   Kim sighed, leaning a bit closer to Fred so she could lower her voice. “I just… I don’t know what you’re expecting—”

   “I’m expecting,” Fred said at regular volume, “for you to have a great time. Enjoy yourself. That’s all.”

   “Okay…” Kim said, a bit breathlessly. This wasn’t in her imagination. Every time she was away from Fred she thought perhaps it was all in her head and he was simply taking her as a friend, and nothing was going to change once all this was over. But in the moment, here, with her eyes sucked into his and unable to break his gaze, with his sure of himself smile and smooth words; he was acting different. Treating her different. He was treating her like… a girlfriend.

   He nudged her arm with his shoulder affectionately before looking back to his food, making Kim titter as her heart skidded out of control. George was just staring at his plate blankly, poking his food with his fork. How did he feel about all this? Kim couldn’t even begin to imagine. She didn’t even know how _she_ felt about it. She was a swirling mixture of longing, excitement, terror, and trepidation. Which of those feelings would win out in the end, she didn’t know yet. She couldn’t help but thinking she would find out at the ball.


	14. Yule Ball

Chapter 14

Yule Ball

   Christmas morning, Kim opened up the few presents her parents had sent her. Her mother got her a dainty necklace to go with her dress with a gold chain and a small golden feather. It was probably one of the best Christmas presents she’d ever gotten, actually. It was quite perfect for her. Then she went down to breakfast and saw George along the way, walking alone.

   “Where’s Fred?” she asked, thinking it was very odd to see one without the other.

   “On his way,” George said plainly, slowing to a stop. “Told him I’d wait up for him here.” There were almost to the Great Hall, but Kim stopped as well, thinking she would just wait with George.

   “So… you don’t seem very excited about the ball tonight,” Kim commented.

   “It’s like you said. It’s not really my cup of tea,” George said with a bit of a sigh. Kim’s expression faltered, realizing that she had told George she didn’t care much to go to the ball, mostly as a cover up so she wouldn’t look stupid when she showed up without a date, and now had been acting all giddy to be going with Fred. Quite the hypocrite she must seem to him.

   “Right, yeah…” Kim said. “Well, it’ll still be fun. Who’re you going with?”

   George shrugged. “This girl from our year.”

   Kim supposed that meant she didn’t know her. She was relieved when Fred sauntered up because she wasn’t sure what to say next. He was wearing a deep purple-burgundy sweater that was soft looking and hand made with a golden _W_ on the breast.

   “Aw,” Kim said with a smile, reaching out to touch the sleeve of the sweater. The thick hand knitted cords felt _nostalgic_ somehow. “You’re mom gave this to you? It’s nice.”

   “You want it?” Fred asked out of the blue. Kim didn’t respond right away from surprise. “You’re always complaining about being cold, and I’ve got a million of them. Here.” He put his arms over his head and grabbed the back of his sweater before Kim could refuse and tugged it over his head. His undershirt road up with the sweater, revealing hip bones and a flat stomach pocked with the occasional tan freckle. Kim smiled shyly as she took the sweater, fluffing it in her hands and then pulling it on over the T-shirt she’d been wearing. The sleeves were too long, and it was baggy on her, but it was perfect for all these reasons.

   “Maybe I’ll wear this to the ball then,” she said with laughter in her voice, holding up her hands that had floppy sleeves handing over them.

   “Wear whatever you like,” Fred said easily, placing a hand on Kim’s shoulder as he walked around to her other side. “You’ll look stunning in whatever you choose to wear. Or choose not to,” he added with a mischievous wink. “C’mon, let’s get breakfast,” he said to both her and George and headed off down the hall. Kim followed, cheeks emblazoned and a smile on her face that she couldn’t wipe off. This was what it must feel like, she was certain, to have a boyfriend.

   Later in the day there was a long snowball war between the Weasley’s, Kim, and Harry. Hermione watched, though she did bewitch the occasional snowball to help out Kim in her times of need, which the boys called cheating and Kim called creative strategizing. When there was only a few hours before the ball remaining, Hermione suggested she and Kim go and get ready, to which Kim hastily agreed.

   “What, you need three hours?” said Ron, looking incredulous just before a large snowball lobed at him by George smacked him in the side of his head, nocking his winter hat sideways. Kim snickered at him as she joined Hermione, away from the danger of snowballs. Her face and hands were numb from throwing and being hit by ice, even though she was well geared for snow this time.

   “Who’re you going with?” Ron yelled to Hermione, who was doing a wonderful job of ignoring him. Kim and Hermione simply smiled as Hermione waved and they headed up the stone steps into the castle. Kim’s nerves were really going now, and she could tell Hermione was feeling just about the same. She couldn’t help thinking that everything was about to change, for better or for worse.

   “Hermione, what if things with Fred and me go south, and we end up ruining our friendship?” Kim asked. She didn’t know if she could handle that. What would she do with herself on the weekends? Study all day with Hermione or Clemon? Talk about weird creatures with Luna? She liked doing both of those things but not all the time.

   “I don’t think that’ll happen,” Hermione reassured. They were approaching the place where they should go spate ways. “Fred obviously likes you, and he’s your best friend. If you don’t work out… you can get past it.”

   “You sound so sure…” Kim said, because she wasn’t at all. Didn’t these things inevitably get messy? She valued Fred and George’s friendship over any grudge she might hold, certainly. But didn’t everyone warn that these things could never stay that simple? What if those warnings were right?

   “Because I _am_ sure. People who care about you stay in your life, Kim. One way or another. Anyway, I better go get ready. Good luck,” she said with a smile.

   “You too. I’m excited to see you in your dress. From what you told me, you’re going to look amazing.”

   “Thanks,” she said with a nervous smile, and then headed off to the Gryffindor common room. Kim went her own way to prepare herself as well, not looking forward at all to having to deal with Victoria’s mocking the whole time. It was hard enough to prepare for her first ever school dance to which she was going with her best friend as her _date._ But she would also have to do so in front of her mortal enemy.

   Luckily however, Victoria was too preoccupied pestering the other Ravenclaws about whether or not they thought Miles would appreciate her efforts to look nice, or whether she should tie this piece of fabric like that, or do her hair like this to bother with Kim. Kim was thankful for that at least. When she was finally finished getting ready, or as ready as she would ever be, she gave herself one last look over in the mirror.

   The dress she and her mother had picked out was black and floor length. It had a high neckline made of black lace that was see through, and a largely open back. The collar behind Kim’s neck and at the front around her waist had little golden buttons that now matched the gilded feather hanging around her neck. She smiled at it, because it reminded her of Strix, who she would _have_ to coax to stay in the dormitory. Kim hoped she wouldn’t put up a fit about it.

   “You look nice,” Clemon said. “Black. I kind of expected canary yellow from you or something.” Clemon was wearing a very dark greed that looked surprisingly nice against her tan skin. She didn’t think Kim herself could pull of that color.

   “What? Why?” Kim asked, laughing.

   “I don’t know. Maybe it’s your blond hair. I kind of just imagined you with something more… chipper. But I like it. Better than what I had in my head.”

   “Thanks?” Kim said, and they both laughed. They made their way downstairs to greet Luna who was dressed in a very odd poufy dress made of pale tool and puffs of pastel around it that were probably supposed to look like flowers. Kim took a labored breath.

   “Ready?” she asked the girls. They nodded and made their way down to the Entrance Hall where all the other students were congregating, waiting for the Great Hall’s giant wooden doors to open and the ball to begin. Kim’s heart was thundering. What would Fred think of her dress? Would he find it too dull? Had he expected canary yellow like Clemon? Looking around Kim also feared she hadn’t done enough with her hair. She’d merely brushed it a bit more and taken care that it was all in the right spot, leaving its wavy shape to fall down her back like it always did when it wasn’t pulled into a frazzled bun or pony tail.

   She bid Clemon and Luna farewell, wading through the crowed with all her thoughts bumping against her skull. She considered just staying there, letting herself be lost in the throng of students, hiding among them and hoping to never be found or noticed. But too late. There was Fred, and his eyes were landing on hers and then sweeping down her body.

   He approached with a composed smile, eyebrows raised just slightly. Kim swallowed hard, because he looked rather smart in crisp black dress robes. He seemed taller than he normal did, and though there was nothing else unusual about him, his hair still slightly mussed, the sight of him dressed up made her stomach tie in knots.

   “Hi,” she said when he approached. “You look handsome.” Her voice wasn’t coming out nearly as solid as she would’ve liked, and her smile was wavering nervously.

   “Why thank you,” he said, tugging at his collar showily. “Wow. Never would’ve thought black was your color,” he said, and Kim felt her heart sinking. _Canary yellow. Should’ve gone with canary yellow._ “But it definitely is,” he said, eyes swooping over her again as he placed his hand on her back to angle her towards the Great Hall entrance. The doors were swinging open, and a wide smile was now spreading across Kim’s face. She let out the air that she’d been stifling a moment ago and blinked, caught up simply with the fact that they were about to go into the ball together, and lost in the sensation of Fred’s hand on her shoulder blade, very firm and sure. Like he always knew exactly where he was going. Like he knew his hand belonged there.

_How is he always so sure?_ Kim wondered in amazement as he led her over to a seat beside George and a girl with auburn hair and a pointed nose. Fred sat down beside her and Kim beside him. Her eyes wandered around the Great Hall, which was beautifully decorated with Christmas trees and floating ornaments and ice sickles. Kim smiled at the magnificent festivities that were all around her as the champions walked into the Great Hall.

   Harry looked rather uncomfortable, and then there was Hermione with Krum. Ron was sitting farther down the table, and he looked absolutely loathing at her. Hermione had been right then, but she didn’t look like she cared about that at all at the moment. She was completely stunning in her periwinkle dress that flowed and fluttered as she walked. Her smile was wider than ever, and it made her brown eyes twinkle. Kim smiled simply at the sight of her so happy.

   They ordered food by speaking into their plates and watched the food magically appear, all commenting on how the house elves had really out done themselves this time. Kim was just starting to feel at ease as the meal came to an end and it was time for dread to stab through her again. The Weird Sisters filled in and began to play a drawing tune with no vocals. It was clearly meant to be the start of the formal dance. Kim twisted in her seat as the champions started out onto the floor.

   Harry was about as graceful as a giraffe with its front and back legs tied together, but Kim hardly had time to care about that. The song was barely halfway over before other people were beginning to head out onto the rather small dancefloor that was made by the space not occupied by tables. Kim wondered if Fred would want to dance. She wondered if _she_ wanted to dance. Again, her feelings about it were mixed. Terrified, excited, loathing, and desiring. At least for now she seemed safe, for the twins were joking about someone’s ridiculous outfit that she didn’t bother to listen in to.

   The slow song came to an end and the Weird Sisters geared up for their next song, and this one was a much more rambunctious tune, one that made Kim tap her toe involuntarily. Fred started to stand, and Kim’s heart started to explode in her chest, looking at him rather alarmed as if when he stood he’d be putting himself and her in the line of fire in some kind of young love hormonal war. That was how she felt anyway. She had to fight the urge to grab his arm and yank him back down in his seat.

   “C’mon,” he said, nodding to the very little space that remained on the dancefloor. _How are we all going to fit over there?_ she wondered, but as if in response to her question, Kim saw a large object start to float away out of the corner of her eye. As all the student’s had abandoned their table, it had lifted into the air and was now halfway to the ceiling. Without warning it burst into a million splinters that transformed into shimmering tinsel-like glitter that dissipated as it came to the floor. The dancefloor was expanding as the dining area was receding, and Kim’s marvel distracted her from her fear long enough for her to place her hand into Fred’s outstretched one.

   Her hand got lost in his long encompassing fingers as she stood to follow him out into the swarm of dancing young people. He brought her very close to the front of the stage where Kim could feel the drums pounding through her core. He started to bob his head and move his body, and then he made a ridiculous face, sticking out his tongue and wiggling his arms like a fool. Kim threw her head back and laughed, pushing him away as if she were embarrassed, but she wasn’t. He poked her in the ribs and she wiggled to the side, and then the other, and just like that she was dancing too, with no abandon, letting her own silliness take over and doing whatever the music told her to.

   They danced like that for a long time, laughing at each other and pushing each other playfully until they were both hot with a sheen on their foreheads. At one point Fred bent down and Kim hiked up her dress and climbed on his shoulders. From up there she got a bird’s eye view of everyone dancing and being ridiculous too. The Weird Sister’s lead singer even noticed her and pointed at her with a smile and wink, making her throw her arms up in the air as she screamed with joy. Fred clasped her knees tightly and spun around, singing off key with the music as Kim held on to his forehead and laughed hysterically, the lights strobing as she spun and the world fuzzing away until there was nothing but the twirling of her stomach and the music.

   A little later she ran into Hermione, who looked just the same as Kim, dance swept and a bit hot, and completely breathless with laughter and smiles.

   “Having fun?” Kim asked. “How’s Krum?”

   Hermione just giggled, which was incredibly unlike her, and looked off at the ceiling. That was enough of a response for Kim to completely understand.

   “And Fred?” she asked. Kim tried to stifle the wild smile that was attempting to take over her, but it was a losing battle.

   “I think I really like him, Hermione. What am I going to do?” she asked breathlessly, but she was still grinning madly.

   Hermione laughed. “You’re going to like him! That’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?”

   “Listen to you! I thought we were here for _school and learning,_ ” Kim said, imitating Hermione’s voice with an English accent. She simply laughed in response because she caught sight of Krum approaching.

   “There you are,” she said, smiling a bit sheepishly. Kim gave him a small wave with her fingers.

   “Hello,” he said in a strong accent.

   “This is my friend, Kim,” Hermione introduced.

   “Nice to meet you,” Kim said.

   “Same to you. Vould either of you like a drink?” he asked looking around to find the tables that had been set out with billowing white clothes, decked out with punch.

   “I’m fine,” Kim said, shaking her hands. “Thanks though. I’m going to find Fred again and make sure he’s not poisoning anything. I’ll catch up with you guys later!” Hermione gave her an excited wave as she turned to go.

   She didn’t so much find Fred as he found her. He came up behind her as she was approaching the drink table and placed his hand on her shoulders.

   “Look at this,” he said in her ear, making all the hairs on her head stand on end. He turned her gently so she was looking across the Great Hall to the table they had set out with small snacks. Kim already knew where this was going.

   “What did you do?” Kim asked accusingly, but as she looked back at him, their faces very close from the way he was standing just behind her, chest to back, there wasn’t a lick of anger in her eyes. There was only exhilaration and something else like dazed amazement that she could ever feel this good.

   “Just watch,” he said with laughter in his tone. Kim looked back to the table as a Hufflepuff boy picked up a cracker and popped it in his mouth. He suddenly got a very alarmed expression and started hopping like he had something in his pants nipping at him. Kim then saw that he was _dancing._ Quite wildly at first, probably because he was fighting it, but as he looked down at his feet, they started to form into a steady tap dancing motion that clapped out very fast. He looked both alarmed and amazed at the same time, and everyone around him did as well.

   Kim doubled over with laughter both at the perfect placement of this particular prank and the look on the boy’s face. Fred was laughing happily too when she turned to face him, clasping his arm to steady herself and batting him lightly as her eyes welled with tears. The boy’s eyes somehow managed to find the source of the loud laughter in a lull of music, and he looked at them accusingly. It wasn’t exactly far stretch to figure out after all, given that it was Fred and Kim that were the one’s laughing. Fred made a sound of fake guilt, the kind you only make when you know you’ve been caught and put his arm around Kim, ushering her toward the exit of the Great Hall. They were nearby it where they stood by the drink table, so it only took a moment before they were out in the much cooler air by the entrance to the castle, sighing with laughter.

   “C’mon,” he said, and took her hand in his, leading her outside.

   Kim was only just catching her breath when it was taken by the view. The lawn was covered in tiny floating and fluttering lights. As they stepped onto the snow dusted breezeway before the stairs Kim saw that the lights were actually fairies enchanted to glow where they flitted about the many rose bushes that had been magiced there. She appreciated the effort this arrangement must’ve taken more than most probably did, because the fairies must have been important, or were a special breed Kim didn’t know about that didn’t mind the freezing cold. Kim’s eyes lulled lazily at the gorgeous sight as Fred pulled in a deep breath of the crisp, cold air.

   He rocked onto his toes as he put his hands into his trouser pockets. “Fresh air. It was gettin’ a bit hot in there.”

   Kim turned on a slight angle to look up at him, an entirely complacent smile on her face. He glanced over at her and caught her gaze as she looked from his eyes to his other features for a brief moment, trying not to look at his lips.

   “Thanks for asking me to come,” she finally said, eyes boring in to his. She hoped he saw the sincerity in hers when she said it. “I don’t know if I would have come if you didn’t… And, I’ve had a _really_ great night… I don’t think I would have with anyone else…”

   Fred’s features soften like it was so rare for them to do. His eyes started making little circles around Kim’s face, as she was sure her eyes were doing too. She saw, now that she was really studying the planes of his broader, angular face, that he still didn’t quite soften all the way like George. He still maintained a bit of the guarded tightness around the edges of his lips and eyes, like he was an immaculate ice sculpture that could be melted, but only halfway, whereas his brother was… well, George wasn’t an ice sculpture at all. George was something else that Kim hadn’t yet figured out, and didn’t care to either. Because all she could think about now was how close Fred’s face was hovering towards hers, and how his lips were moving just slightly like they were about to part.

   And then suddenly he looked horrified. Stricken. Like he had just realized he was about to be late for something very important, or had forgotten to put out the fire before he left home and was expecting to return to nothing but ash. It was so sudden that Kim couldn’t help her own features shifting to slight alarm as well.

   A second later and Fred was standing up strait again and swallowing hard, looking around at anything that was Kim’s eyes. He gave a small clearing of his throat.

   “We better get back inside,” he said with a strained smile. “Wouldn’t want to miss the fun.”

   He was already starting to leave, but Kim wasn’t ready to go. She was freezing, her toes were going numb, and she too wanted to hear the Weird Sisters finish their act, but she wasn’t ready to go yet.

   “Wait, Fred… what’s wrong?” she asked.

   Again he looked rather uncomfortable, hands dug deep into his pockets. He shrugged. “Nothing,” he said. Then he blinked and restored his collected expression that was like a tranquilizer now. Kim didn’t want a sedative. She wanted the real thing. “Just want to go back inside,” he said with a charming smile.

   “Okay. Uh, go on without me, I’ll be in in just a minute,” Kim said, managing to keep her voice level and calm as well, though not as expertly as Fred. He just nodded, seeming relieved that he could escape. Once he was gone Kim turned to look out at the rose bushes full of light and felt the pressure behind her eyes as she bit down, grinding her teeth, her nostrils flaring. She fought to keep tears from falling.

_What did I do wrong?_ she asked the night desperately. The fairy’s swirled and blinked but there was no sign to be had in them. _We were having such a great time, and I swear he was about to… to kiss me. Wasn’t he? Or was all of that in my head too, just like my thoughts that he was treating me differently. Treating me like his girlfriend. How would I even know what that means… I’ve never been a girlfriend._

   By the time Kim was managing to gather herself enough to go back inside, she heard the music come to an end through the open door behind her. She heaved a great sigh. So that was it then, the ball was over and she had passed up the last opportunity to dance with Fred again, not that he would want to. She sat down on the ledge of the stairs, numb from the cold, trying to recollect herself yet again. She didn’t know if she had the energy to face all the smiling happy students in Ravenclaw Tower. She decided it might just be better to sit and wait for all of them to be asleep in bed.

   The foreign students flooded out of the front door and down the stairwell beside her, ignoring her presence which she was thankful for. It had been a few minutes since any had come out of the door when she heard it creaking open again and a huffing distressed sounding breath following. Kim turned around to see Hermione, teary eyed and clearly surprised to see another person on the front steps of the school. Once she realized it was Kim, however, she looked marginally relieved, if not in forfeit.

   “What’s wrong?” Kim asked as she came the rest of the way out the door and moved to sit beside Kim, clutching her arms like Kim was already doing, blue fingered. She gave a huff. “Krum problems?”

   “No. Krum was quite nice, all night long. I had a good time with him…”

   “Then what’s the matter?”

   “It’s Ron,” she said, giving her head an angry shake as more tears welled in her eyes. “He can be such an _ass_.”

   “I saw him mopping. And glaring. You said yourself he’d learn his lesson when he saw you with Krum.”

   “Yes, but-” she stopped short and put her forehead in her hands, her elbows propped against her knees. “I didn’t think he would be like this. He was acting like I was evil or something for going with Krum,” she explained, her arms collapsing so she could rest her head against them and turn her head sideways to look at Kim.

   “He’s stupid. And probably jealous. He gets jealous super easy.”

   “I know. I wish he would just be _honest_ with me about it instead of attack me! If he didn’t treat me like absolute garbage, maybe things would be different!”

   “You like him don’t you?” Kim asked after a brief pause.

   Hermione’s eyes shimmered with tears, and she looked very sorry for it, but she nodded all the same. Kim smiled a pitiful smile.

   “I guess we’re both screwed then,” Kim muttered, looking out to the rose bushes. She watched a fairy twirl little figure eights in the air above her bush before landing on a leaf and pruning herself.

   “I know I am,” said Hermione. “My heart’s betrayed me by falling for a complete oaf.” Kim snorted at this. “But why are you?”

   “I don’t know what happened tonight with Fred…”

   “I thought things were going really well.”

   “They were. And then we came out here toward the end of the dance and… I swear we were about to kiss… But I don’t know. What do I know about this stuff,” she said with a joyless laugh. “Then he just froze up. It was so weird. Like he just suddenly realized who I was and what we were about to do, he got all wide eyed and tense and just stopped. Said he wanted to go back inside. That was it.”

   “That’s all?” Hermione said, sounding as if she didn’t find it a big deal. She straitened herself, eyes beginning to dry, and turned more towards Kim. “There’s a hundred things that could’ve happened. You said you had a good time. Did he say any differently?”

   Kim thought back. It already felt like a long time ago that she was standing there with Fred, feeling like they were both falling in love.

   “He didn’t say he _wasn’t_ having a good time, no. And he seemed to be enjoying himself before…”

   “You know him. He’s your best friend. If it’s anything like… Ron and me… Well, even when he’s being completely idiotic, I at least know it. Does that make sense? He’s not a mystery. Not like Krum… Everything about him is kind of unknown.” She’d said it like it was slightly terrifying, and Kim understood.

   “Anyway,” she continued, “maybe he just got cold feet. Maybe it was something else. Who knows with boys… Maybe he wasn’t wearing his lucky pair of sox so he realized he couldn’t _possibly_ kiss you yet.”

   Kim snickered, bending a bit and rolling her eyes at the duel ridiculousness and also plausibility of this suggestion.

   “Maybe you have a point,” Kim said. “I guess all I can do is give it until tomorrow? Wait and see how he acts?”

   Hermione nodded in agreement. “As for me, I suppose it’s as we said earlier. The friendship is more important than anything… including my stubborn pride.”

   “Hermione,” Kim said seriously, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

   “Oh, shut it,” she laughed leaning away from Kim’s hand playfully. She sighed. “Yes. I suppose all that’s left is to salvage the friendship and move on. Besides, I’ve got Harry to worry about.”

   “True… We should probably get going,” Kim said, making to stand. “Before a professor sees us out here and gets angry. I saw Snape lurking about out their earlier and I don’t know if he’s come in yet.” With that they were heading inside and bidding each other a goodnight, Kim with a small kindling of hope that perhaps not all was lost between her and Fred.

* * *

   The following week was spent catching up on homework that no one had done the week prior before Christmas, and relaxing. The first time Kim saw Fred and George was a few days after the dance, which made her nervous because she felt as though Fred might forget about their magical night all together and everything would slip back to how things were before without her having a chance to hold on to the possibility of more.

   The three of them were sitting on a couch in the library, and as Kim had feared, everything seemed to be perfectly normal. But was that really the worst outcome of all this? Kim supposed not. Fred was explaining the complex composition of a bubble gum that would glow in the dark, but they hadn’t quite gotten it right yet.

  “See it keeps, turning our teeth glow in the dark too,” he murmured.

   Kim shrugged. “That’s kind of cool. I mean, that could be marketable, couldn’t it?”

   Fred seemed to be turning this idea over. He scribbled something down on the parchment he had pressed against a book on his lap. “Good thinking,” he said approvingly, and glanced up at Kim’s smile. His gaze stuck for a moment longer than Kim expected. He then shot a look at George on Kim’s other side, filling in what looked to be random answers on his homework, though Kim wasn’t sure. He definitely wasn’t giving it much effort though. Fred then gave a half sigh and stretched out his arm, draping it over Kim’s back and leaning closer to her so suddenly that she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening with surprise.

   “What other idea’s you got rattling around in there?” he asked, voice still low and now very close to her ear.

   “Uh…” was all she managed to say, looking up at him shyly, and also a bit baffled. His eyes kept shooting up at George who was paying them no mind.

   “Hm?” he encouraged.

   “Uh, I- I… I don’t know. Something that makes your heart beat really fast,” she suggested. It was a stupid idea, but it was the first thing that came to her mind, probably because her heart was inching it’s way so far up her throat it was a wonder she wasn’t choking on it.

   Fred leaned his head back and forth. “Has potential. People might think there having a heart attack though. Which could be funny.”

   “Or life threatening,” George finally chimed in, which made Fred’s attention swivel to him immediately. “We can’t sell something that’s going to make people kill themselves with heart restarting spells. Won’t be very funny when we’re in Azkaban for murder.”

   “Right,” Kim said, looking at him stupidly. She felt strange, sitting so close to Fred with George on her other side. There was an extra foot between her and George now, and Fred’s arm on her shoulder creating an invisible barrier. Kim told herself there was nothing there, but she felt it.

   “It was a stupid idea,” she said, shrugging. “I was just throwing things out there.”

   “Nothing wrong with that,” Fred added.

   Kim’s head spun. Since when was Fred the one who was nice to her? Since when did he side with her against George? Fred was eyeing George when he sighed and released Kim’s shoulder, putting away the parchment he’d been working on and moving on to something else.

   The rest of the break went just like that. Mostly normal, sprinkled with confusing bits to make Kim think there was certainly something going on between her and Fred. But what was it exactly? Why hadn’t they talked about it? Why had Fred vanished at the ball, seeming so uncomfortable all of a sudden, and was he ever going to bring that up to talk about? It seemed for every time Fred did something to cement his evident feelings for her, all it did was spring up a thousand more questions in Kim’s mind.


	15. Grit

Chapter 15

Grit

   Once the new term had begun, there wasn’t nearly as much time to ponder on the enigma that was Fred Weasley. Kim was back to her classes, and back to stuffing her nose in divination text books that were far beyond the fourth year required reading level. She needed to find a way to hone her meditation and bring about specific visions, and she needed to do it fast if she was going to be any help at all with the Triwizard Tournament.

   That, and once classes were in session there was another bit of unpleasant news awaiting Kim. Hagrid was not in Care of Magical Creatures class, because Hagrid was not the teacher anymore, at least temporarily. He had apparently disclosed everything Kim had feared he might to Rita Skeeter, and more. Now everyone new that he had illegally bred the skrewts, and that he was half giant. This bit was news to Kim, though she couldn’t say it was that surprising, given Hagrid’s enormity. Still, the skrewt business Dumbledore could probably get him out of. But his being half giant? Prejudice ran deep in the wizarding community when it came to magical creatures. It was half of what her class on intelligent magical creatures was about, and it was what had forced Professor Lupin to quit the year before. Kim worried the same thing would happen to Hagrid.

   But, the new professor had a much better lesson plan for them involving unicorns, which was immensely exciting to Kim. So not only did she have her worry for Hagrid to combat, but also the guilt that she was enjoying his absence a little.

   By mid January there was a Hogsmeade visit that Kim considered skipping in favor of a guaranteed empty dormitory in which she could perform her meditation and hopefully bring about a vision for Harry. But Fred was determined to convince her out of it by saying things like, “ _Harry’s_ not staying to work on the egg, are you Harry?” to which Harry said no, to which Hermione scowled. He also made the argument that the tournament was still a long ways away and Hogsmeade only came around so often. She was so flattered by his invested interest in her attendance that she caved in and went along with them.

   “Now look who we have here,” George said as they were passing by the Three Broomsticks. Kim followed his gaze and saw Bagman sitting inside, talking with Harry of all people. Kim frowned, but Fred and George were already making a beeline for the entrance to the pub so she scurried after them.

   “…think I’m nearly there with the egg… couple more days should crack it,” Harry was saying to Bagman as the group walked into the pub. Bagman looked offended at whatever point Harry was getting across, but Kim didn’t have time to ponder it.

   “Hello, Mr. Bagman,” said Fred brightly. “Can we buy you a drink?”

   “Er… no,” said Bagman, still glancing at Harry with disappointment. “No thank you boys…”

   “We really just—“ George began but was cut off.

   “I must dash,” Bagman said, sounding apologetic, but Kim new it was false. “Nice seeing you all. Good luck, Harry.” He then hurried out of the pub, followed by a group of goblins that had been sitting in a nearby booth. They seemed to be purposefully following Bagman, and he seemed rather aware of it, and not in a pleasant sort of way. Harry slid from his stool and went to rejoin with Ron and Hermione at their booth as Fred and George watched Bagman hurry down the street outside, speaking quickly with the goblins.

   “It’s okay,” Kim said under her breath to Fred, who was still staring out the window even though there was nothing left to see, jaw clenched tight.

   “I’m getting really sick of playing nice.”

   “What else are we supposed to do?” George asked, equally deflated.

   “Maybe he was really busy,” Kim offered, though she was sure they were getting sick of this suggestion. “He seemed to have some business with those goblins he was dealing with…” She took hold of Fred’s forearm firmly until he looked her in the eye. “We’ll try again.”

   His brow relaxed as he looked at her and she could feel his body loosening. Kim felt the inner frost that in recent days was always freezing in her chest start to warm. It was these tiny looks he sometimes gave her that she lived for.

   “Thanks,” he said quietly. But, as usual, he brought himself from the moment, slating his features yet again and looking away. Kim let her arm drop, disappointed as she always was at this exchange.

    “Hey George,” Fred said in a confident tone, “why don’t you shove off for a bit. Give Kim and I some alone time,” he said, nodding toward the door as he put an arm around Kim’s shoulders. Kim’s eyes widened with surprise, her jaw almost dropping. George looked at his brother for a second, his mouth going tight in the smallest of ways that only someone who knew him very well would even noticed. Then he relaxed himself again, back to normal.

   “Fine. See you two later,” he said, and pushed out of the pub, stuffing his hands into his pockets and watching his feet as he made his way down the street. Kim now looked at Fred, who for some reason had a screwed up expression, looking almost exasperated or perhaps surprised at his brother’s reaction. He dropped his arm off Kim and let it hit his side with disbelief, shaking his head a little. Kim was looking exasperated and surprised too, but not at George’s reaction, at what Fred had _said._

   “That was mean!” Kim whispered loudly. Fred looked down at her then, a bit like he was just noticing she was still there.

   “C’mon then,” he said with a small sigh, heading for the bar. He ordered them two butterbeers and turned back to Kim as they waited for them.

   “I feel bad,” Kim confessed after a moment, their butterbeers sliding across the bar to them. Fred grabbed them and headed for a table.

   “Why?”

   “For making George go off on his own!”

   “Again, why?” he asked slowly, squinting at her like this was a test. She scooted into a booth beside him and wrapped her chilly fingers around the butterbeer.

   “I don’t know…” she said in a high voice. She didn’t like this line of questioning. “Because he’s your brother and my friend… and, I mean, I care about him of course, I don’t want to make him feel weird about anything…”

   Fred smiled at this. She supposed she must’ve passed, but there was still an almost painful look in Fred’s eyes that Kim didn’t understand. He took a long drink of butterbeer.

   “You’re good, Kim,” he said, wiping his lip. He looked sideways at her, eyes measuring. “You’re really good. And any guy would be lucky to have you.”

   Kim felt her heart thundering, but her desire for Fred to understand how she felt, her desire for them to _talk_ about what was happening between them was just enough for her to say, “I don’t want just any guy.”

   Fred stared at her meaningfully for a moment, his face starting to soften. Kim thought he looked almost like he had when they were standing outside the castle during the ball, but not quite. He caught himself sooner this time, straitening and looking at the empty bench across from them.

   “Yes well,” he muttered ruefully, “you deserve someone who’s going to actually go out of their way for you, at least _once_ for crying out loud.” Kim frowned. _What is he talking about? He has gone out of his way for me._ He looked into his drink like there was something unfortunate in it; a hair or a fly. “What am I saying,” he murmured even lower.

   “What _are_ you saying?” Kim asked. He looked at her, brow still furrowed.

   “Sorry,” he said, working to control his expression. “I’m just… upset about the whole Bagman thing.” He shook his hand in gesture at the bar. “My heads not present, is all…”

   “Okay…” Kim said, not sure what to think. She knew there must be something bothering him that he wasn’t telling her, but perhaps it _was_ just more worry about Bagman, as he claimed. She was contemplating what she could say to comfort him when he managed a much brighter expression.

   “After this, we can go to Zonko’s.”

   Kim smiled. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

   But as it would turn out, Kim wouldn’t get the chance. As her and Fred were making their way to the joke shop she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione heading off somewhere looking very upset.

   “What’s going on guys?” Kim asked, worriedly.

   “Rita Skeeter,” Hermione snapped.

   “What’s she done this time?” Kim implored, immediately worried there was another article about Harry’s trouble childhood or Hagrid’s misuse of magical creatures.

   “What _hasn’t_ that evil woman done,” Hermione said. Kim looked at Fred, torn about whether to follow the group or stay with him.

   “Go ahead, I’m going to find George,” he said. Kim was immediately relieved. Not only did she want to find out what was going on with her other friends, she also wanted Fred and George to talk. Make up. Do whatever it was they needed to do after the weird events to that afternoon.

   “Where are you going?” Kim asked, following Harry, Ron and Hermione out of Hogsmeade.

   “We’re going to talk to Hagrid. I’ve had just about enough of this. I won’t let that article shut him in forever.”

   “Oh, good,” Kim said. “I’ve tried banging on his door a few times, but no luck.”

   “Same,” Harry said. They all hurried to Hagrid’s cabin, upon arriving to which Hermione marched up to the door and started hammering her fist against it.

   “Hagrid!” she shouted. “Hagrid, that’s enough! We know you’re in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can’t let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you’re just being—“ the door opened just as Hermione was saying “absolutely _daft_ about it—“

   She stopped herself short because instead of Hagrid at the door it was Professor Dumbledore.

   “Good afternoon,” he said with a smile.

   “We- er- we wanted to see Hagrid,” said Hermione in a timid voice.

   “Yes, I surmised as much,” said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. “Why don’t you come in?”

   “Oh… um… okay,” Hermione said, and they all went into the cabin. Fang was rather excited to see Kim, as well as Harry, but other than that the cabin had all the signs of neglect. Hagrid was sitting at his table with two large mugs of tea, looking a real mess. His hair had gotten even less kept than usual, and his face was red and blotchy, his eyes swollen from tears.

   “Hi, Hagrid,” said Harry.

   Hagrid looked up. Kim gave him a grim smile, taking in the sight of his pitiful state.

   “’Lo,” was all he managed through a very horse throat.

   “More tea, I think,” said Dumbledore, closing the cabin door and moving to the table to magic up some more. They all sat down and waited as he prepared the tea. “Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?”

   Hermione looked embarrassed, but Dumbledore didn’t look at all upset with her. “This lovely gaggle of students still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door.”

   “Of course we still want to know you!” Harry said. Kim nodded in agreement as Harry continued. “You don’t think that anything that Skeeter cow— sorry Professor,” Harry added quickly, looking at Dumnledore.

   “I have gone temporarily deaf and haven’t any idea what you said, Harry,” said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and looking up absently.

   “Er- right. I just meant, Hagrid, how could you think we’d care what that _woman_ wrote about you?”

   Hagrid started crying, which was a truly pitiful sight. It reminded Kim of when Buckbeak was on the chopping block and made her even sadder.

   “Living proof of what I’ve been telling you, Hagrid,” said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. “I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it—“

   “Not all of ‘em,” Hagrid said hoarsely. “Not all of ‘em wan’ me ter stay.”

   “Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time,” said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. “Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven’t had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?”

   “Yeh—yeh’re not half-giant!” Hagrid croaked.

   “Hagrid,” Kim finally said, sounding angrier than she meant to. Now with everyone’s attention on her she calmed her voice. “I never told you this… but not long ago, I was attacked.”

   It felt very strange to say it out loud. Kim felt her throat tightening as the words left her lips. She’d said things to her friends about it, but it seemed very different now that she was in front of Hagrid and the headmaster.

   “Wha’?” Hagrid demanded after a pause. “Attacked how?”

   “I was cornered in the hall. I thought he was going to kill me…” she said quietly. Perhaps that was melodramatic to say aloud, but it didn’t feel it. When she remembered Mile’s foot slamming into her ribs, her eyes blind and burning, blood streaming down her cheeks, it didn’t feel dramatic at all. That _was_ what she’d thought. She hadn’t even been sure she was going to make it to the hospital wing. She almost didn’t, recalling the feeling of the floor disappearing out beneath her and finding herself tumbling down the stairs.

   “It was partially my fault,” Kim continued. “A stupid dispute. But it was also because I’m… a mudblood.” Ron looked at her like she was crazy and Hermione gasped.

   “ _Kim_ ,” she chastised under her breath.

   “What?” she snapped. “That’s what they call me. And I don’t care. I don’t care if they say I have mud in my blood. Or grime in my heritage. Or salt in my wounds. Because you know what that means? It means I’ve got grit. And no one can make me ashamed of that.” Kim turned her eyes toward Hagrid who was looking at her with a hint of awe and thoughtfulness. “Some people are always going to hate you for what you are, Hagrid, but it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t start to. The people that matter never will.”

   There was a long silence. “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Dumbledore said, peering from Kim to Hagrid with a small smile.

   “Come back and teach, Hagrid,” said Hermione quietly, “please comeback, we really miss you.”

   “I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid,” said Dumbledore as he stood up, Hagrid gulping as more tears leaked from his eyes. “I expect you back at work on Monday. You will join me for breakfast at 8:30 in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all.” With that he left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fang’s ears. As soon as the door was shut Hagrid began to sob into his large hands.

   “Yer too good to me. All a’ ya’. Dumbledore. Kim,” he said, looking up with tears smeared all over this cheeks and dampening his beard. “I bin stupid… my ol’ dad woulda bin ashamed o’ the way I’ve been behavin’… Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here…”

   After scrounging around in a drawer he handed around a picture of himself, young but still enormous, alongside a short wizard with Hagrid’s crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat atop Hagrid’s shoulder.

   “Tha’ was taken jus’ after I got inter Hogwarts,” Hagrid croaked as Kim passed the picture to Ron. Hagrid started rambling, reminiscing about his father and Dumbledore. Kim was staring off at nothing in deep thought about too many things at once until Hagrid’s voice grew almost dreamy and drew her attention back in.

   “Yeh know what I’d love, Harry?” Hagrid said. “I’d love yeh ter win, I really would. It’d show ‘em all… yeh don’ have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don’ have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It’d show ‘em Dumbledore’s the one who’s got it righ’, lettin’ anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin’ with that egg, Harry?”

   “Great,” Harry said, which made Kim look at him with a tilted gaze. “Really great.”

   She was unaware of this supposed _greatness._ Last she’d heard he was _nowhere._

   “Tha’s my boy… you show ‘em, Harry, you show ‘em. Beat ‘em all.”

   Harry must’ve lied to Hagrid because he didn’t want to let him down. He didn’t want him to know that he was no closer to solving the egg than he’d been the very day he’d snatched it from the Hungarian Horntail. Kim heaved a breath, knowing she needed to get to work with her divination. If Harry wasn’t able to figure out the egg on his own, it would be left to her.

* * *

   The next two weeks past as Kim tried to focus her efforts on her divination studies, but it was hard to balance with homework. And it was also proving impossible to get a time when the dormitory was empty. Harry informed her that he finally _did_ make some substantial progress on the egg, and real progress, not a fibbed, made up progress. This news lifted a bit of the burden off Kim’s shoulders. Harry would be going into the lake, and in the lake, there would be merpeople.

   “Merpeople?” Kim asked when Harry told her. They were walking between class periods when Harry had caught up with her. “What kind?”

   “I don’t know,” Harry said with a shrug.

   “There are different kinds of merpoeple, and the type of species will greatly change what you’re up against.”

   “All I know is it’s in the lake.”

   “Well, we are in Scottland, so I highly doubt there would be sirens up here… too cold…” Kim pondered allowed. They were nearing the place where Kim would have to take a different hallway than Harry. It didn’t matter though, because she would need to do some reading if she was going to have much else for him.

   “That’s probably best,” Kim continued hurriedly. “You’re either dealing with Selkie’s or Merrows. I’ll see what I can find. Better yet, ask Hermione. I’ll bet my left shoe she knows the answer, since it’s something to do with the history of Hogwarts.”

   “I will. Thanks,” Harry said, turning down the other hallway. Kim was glad to have passed that bit of information on and to not have to worry about it. She didn’t need any more work on top of the divination she was taking on.

   It was nearly February, and still she hadn’t had the chance to try out any new methods she’d been reading about. She was worrying about this thought while sitting between Fred and George at dinner.

   “Do you need any more of those herbs for your divination-meditation ordeal?” Fred asked randomly. Kim was shaken from her thoughts and looked at him.

   “Uh, oh… I haven’t gotten the chance to do anything about Bagman. I’m sorry,” Kim said, remembering that she had told the twins quite some time ago she would try and see what was to come in regards to him. She assumed that was why he was asking. “I’ve just been so busy with trying to help Harry, I—”

   “Kim, it’s okay,” Fred said, a bit of laughter in his tone. “I was just asking because George and I could easily get you some more. If you needed it.”

   “Oh…” Kim said, a smile creeping onto her face. “Thanks. I’m fine for now, but I’ll let you know when I’m out.”

   For a reason Kim couldn’t quite figure her heart swelled. It was a small thing, but it was these kinds of things that mattered, she thought. For a while now Fred had been acting differently, treating her like she was something special. It was more than Kim could have ever expected.

   Kim went to bed that night with a smile on her face. True enough that she and Fred hadn’t discussed what they were. He hadn’t asked her to be his girlfriend. But did that _need_ to happen? Did that always happen? Kim’s knowledge of these things came from Retta’s experience and from muggle TV. And maybe it was different in the wizarding community! Kim didn’t care. Fred made her happy on a very regular basis. He was nicer to her than he was to almost anyone she could think of, and he showed, in his own way, that he cared about her. She didn’t need any other qualifications for her to consider him her boyfriend. She was content with how things were. And maybe with time, he would become more vocal about things. That was a hope that made her lull into a peaceful night’s sleep.

   As February’s days slinked by and the second challenged drew ever nearer, however, Kim saw less and less of the twins. She was either buried in a book about Selkies or about divination. So far, her attempts to hone her mediation towards a specific topic was continuously useless. She’d gotten either nothing, or visions of people she had never met before carrying out mundane tasks, having conversations in foreign languages. Once she saw a cow field in which a fox snuck adeptly in only to soon leap out, deciding against trying to make a dodgy path between the heifers. Kim was beginning to think her task was impossible.

   One day she was sitting with George in the library while Fred was off doing something else having to do with _independent research,_ whatever that meant.

   “This is useless,” Kim said, tossing a book about focusing meditations aside onto an empty cushion of their shared couch. George looked up at her from his wand work. He was attempting to make a hat levitate. Only he was trying to make it do so on its own, without a spell necessary, something about a jinx that wouldn’t take effect until it was placed on the wearer’s head.

   “All of its guess work. Conjecture,” Kim grumbled.

   “You’ll figure it out,” George said.

   Kim sighed. “I know. I have to. I don’t want to be useless, I mean Harry could die in these challenges. I need to help in whatever little ways I can… So I have that to think about, and all this taking up my time, and _school,_ and to top it off a boyfriend who’s as confusing and nondescript as this stupid textbook,” Kim said, nudging the book with her foot so it slid farther down the couch, as if it were contagious. The motion made her lean sideways a bit involuntarily so her head hit George’s arm lightly. She looked up at him as he looked down at her.

   “So uh…” he said. “What’s going on with you and Fred anyway?”

   Kim sat up, straitening her skirt. “Well… you know, we haven’t really talked about it necessarily… but if it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck…”

   “Ah…”

   “Why, as he said something to you?” Kim asked eagerly.

   George shook his head. “Nothing.”

   Kim just nodded, reminding herself of her revelation from the weeks prior. _Fred and I are more than friends. Whatever that means. That’s enough for me. I don’t want to push it…_

   For the remaining days leading up to the challenge, Kim hardly saw Fred at all, though she did sometimes see George. When she sat down at meals with them he always needed to head off, or if he stayed nearby he was busy with something else, chatting with Harry or Lee. Kim might’ve been more bothered by this if she too wasn’t constantly slinking off to try and read or deviate. She had taken to occupying empty classrooms and filling them with smoke so that she could actually get some peace and quiet, but for some reason when she did this she almost never got a single thing but scattered nonsense. Not even a coherent vision of a foreign country or a cow field.

   By the night before the second task, Kim had tried everything she knew how. She had stayed up late, reading more about focusing the mind, but she was starting to think it was something she could only learn from _doing_. Perhaps reading about it was a waste of time and she’d wasted a whole lot of it in the past month. But there was nothing she could do about that now. Currently, it was about to be bed time, and she had nothing to show for all her efforts.

   She tried to find Harry, but there was no sight of him in the library where she expected him. She assumed he had already headed off to bed since he had such a big day coming in the morning. She would just have to find him then and try and offer him what feeble apologies and words of encouragement she had to offer.

   But as it would turn out, Kim would not be given the chance. When she went down for breakfast the next day, the Great Hall filled with chatter about the upcoming event, she expected to see Harry, but he wasn’t there. Neither was Hermione, Ron, Fred, or George. Frowning, Kim resigned to sitting beside Luna who talked to her mildly about the various reasons for her missing socks.

   Breakfast was over and still none of her friends were in sight. By the time everyone began heading down to the stands Kim became mad with worry. She could see the other champions ready at the podium. The stands were arranged by the lake, which everyone besides Kim was very excited and baffled about. The champions looked like they were preparing to dive in, lining up on a dock-like structure on the lake. But Harry was not with them.

   “Where is he?” Kim worried, rising up onto her toes as if it would get her a better look at Harry’s absence.

   “Maybe he’s already in the lake, pre-exploring the challenge,” Luna offered.

   Kim frowned. “I’m sure that’s against some rule,” she muttered. Not to mention, as far as she knew, Harry had absolutely no method to swim in the lake for any extended amount of time.

   Finally, after what seemed like an impossible amount of time, she spotted Harry. He was throwing himself down the hill, loping for the doc as fast as he could. He seemed to get there just in time.

   “Oh, thank god. Now I just have to hope he figured _something_ out for this…” Kim said, watching intently as Harry lined up with the other contestants. The cannon boomed, making Kim’s heart skip a beat, signaling the beginning of the challenge as the stands erupted into applause.

   Krum’s head turned into a shark rather violently as he thrust himself into the water. Kim was so distracted watching him that she barley caught Cedric and Flure as they splashed in behind him. Her eyes went immediately to Harry, who was struggling on the docks, clasping his throat.

   “What’s he-” but as she was saying it he tumbled into the water. A moment later the surface was smooth… none of the contestants came back up.

   “Not much of a spectator’s sport anymore,” Luna remarked. Kim sighed.

   “Yeah… I’m gonna go crazy waiting.” She rose up on her toes again, though it was hardly necessary. Everyone was starting to sit now, realizing that this was going to involve more waiting than actual watching. After roving over the stands for a while her eyes landed on Fred and George.

   “There they are!” Kim said, and then looked down at Luna guiltily. She didn’t have anyone else to sit with…

   “It’s okay. If you found Fred and George, you should go to them. I know that’s who you were looking for.”

   Kim suddenly felt terrible. What did it really matter anyway? It was just a little while. After the challenge was over she would have plenty of time to catch back up with Fred. Reluctantly, and though her body was seemingly completely against the idea, she sat slowly down beside Luna.

   “No, it’s fine. I’ll stay here with you.” Luna smiled and kicked her feet a bit, looking out at the lake. They passed the time by sharing bits of little known facts about magical creatures, waiting painstakingly for the champions to resurface from the lake.


	16. The Real Thing

Chapter 16

The Real Thing

   The first person to break the water’s surface was Fleur, but Madam Maxime didn’t seem enthusiastic when she did, so Kim inferred she must not have done the proper thing. What was more, she came out spluttering and a bit panicked, thrashing towards the doc until someone helped pull her out.

   Next was Cedric, and with him Cho, surprisingly. Kim didn’t really understand until she remembered that Cho had gone with Cedric to the ball. Suddenly it made sense. That was the ‘thing’ the merpeople took that the champions must recover. Kim figured that explained why she hadn’t been able to find Hermione or Ron that morning as well. So which of them was Harry’s responsibility, and when would he finally get to them?

   After a moment’s thought, Kim figured Hermione must belong to Krum, which only left Ron for Harry. This was confirmed moments later as Krum burst from the water, his head still badly transfigured into a shark. He started to change back to human as they paddled for the doc. Kim found it rather romantic that Krum’s treasured person was Hermione rather than a longtime friend from Durmstrang. She wondered momentarily who Fred’s treasured person would be, but that didn’t take long to figure out. It would be George. But Kim was alright with that. She held out hope though that perhaps she would be second or third on that list.

   “He’s gone quite a lot past the time…,” Luna said, but she certainly didn’t need to.

   “I know,” Kim said, her eyes not moving from the big clock standing beside the judges’ table. They’d been watching it for minutes now, waiting for Harry to burst out of the water in the nick of time... only the nick of time had come and gone. _Come on Harry. I know you love to slide in at the last second, but you’ve really outdone yourself this time..._

   Kim’s heart was thundering. She wondered what it meant that he was so late. Did that mean he completely failed? The others had been past the time by a minute or so as well…Kim supposed it didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t dead down there, which was also a distinct possibility. It wasn’t as if anyone could see what was happening from the surface.

   But then the water erupted with a black mass of hair as Harry emerged, spluttering and coughing, and hoisting up two bodies.

   “Two?” Kim wondered aloud. One was Ron, but the other was a small girl with blond hair.

   “Maybe she’s Fleur’s?” Luna suggested.

   “I think you’re right,” Kim said, squinting at the pretty little girl as she began to flap about in the water. The stands were cheering in amazement and confusion alike, which only heightened as green heads emerged from the water. Kim drew in an awe filled breath.

   “Merpeople,” she breathed. She stood on her toes to get as good as look as possible. There was 20 or so of them, and they had fish like skin and green thickly locked hair. They were screeching something dreadful, but they were smiling all the while. Complaints echoed through the stands, people asking why the Merpeople had followed the contestants out of the challenge area, and why were they yelling? But Kim knew it was a simple answer.

   “That’s what their voices sound like above water,” Kim explained to Luna. “Underwater that would sound nice, I’m sure.”

   The creases around Luna’s eyes crinkled. “It sounds a bit like a chorus of tortured cats.”

   Kim nodded in agreement as the merpeople helped Harry, Ron, and the girl up to the docs. They seemed very enthusiastic about Harry, smiling at him, and raising their arms in a gesture Kim thought might be meant to convey admiration or victory. Kim watched as one of the merpeople huddled close to Dumbledore, as if speaking with him. When Dumbledore stood up strait and turned to the other judges, the merpeople sank back into the water, fin’s cutting the surface easily before they dove back into the depths. The judges convened, probably discussing the scores.

   Kim didn’t really care about the scores. Harry was alive and that was all that mattered. But when they announced that Harry had been awarded tying points with Cedric due to his outstanding moral fiber shown by his determination to save the other hostages, Kim found herself cheering just as loudly as the rest of the crowd. _So that was what took him so long,_ she thought, shaking her head lightly, but she was smiling. _Oh Harry… what am I going to do with you… one day that heroic attitude is going to get you or someone killed._

   An angry tugging in Kim’s stomach wiped the smile off her face then. It was unexplainable, unreasonable. _Why does this keep happening?_ she wondered, begging her insides to calm down. Why was her stomach suddenly in knots? _Go away! Can’t I just have a moment of peace? I’m so sick of being worried all the time…_

   She tried to push away the anxiety, but she couldn’t fully enjoy the celebratory mood that everyone else seemed to be in now. She faked it though, so no one would ask her any questions. It wasn’t as if she could possibly explain it if they did.

* * *

   For the following two weeks, Kim tried to convince herself that she had plenty of time before the next challenge. It wasn’t until June after all, and it was still only the beginning of March. But that didn’t stop her stomach from churning every time she thought of it. And really, it was impossible not to. Everyone in the entire school was talking about it, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were constantly telling recounts of what happened under the lake to everyone and their cousin. Kim, of course, got to hear every single one of Ron’s exploitative and extravagant versions of the story, since she found herself spending a lot more time with the three. Fred and George always seemed to be off, busy with something else.

   “Are you all right Kim?” Hermione asked her one morning at breakfast. Ron had just been giving another one of his ‘recounts’ of events, though it was quite fictional, Kim was sure. But no matter how fictitious the stories were, they still reminded her of the impending doom that seemed to be pressing down on her from the inside.

   “Hm?” she asked, looking up out of deep thought, though she had simply been staring at her eggs and poking them around.

   “Are you all right? You seem kind of out of it lately,” she said.

   “Oh, yeah… I’m just worried about the next challenge.”

   “Why?” asked Ron with a grin. “Harry’s got it.”

   “Yes, because he so _easily_ managed it the first two times,” Kim said sarcastically. She had since been told about how Dobby had given Harry the gillyweed at the absolute last minute, and quite by chance. Harry most certainly would have failed the challenge completely without it, though she supposed in this case he would have been safe none the less. It wasn’t as if he would’ve drowned while standing lamely on the dock, just would’ve suffered a severe case of embarrassment. But that didn’t make her feel at all sure the same would be true for the next challenge. After all, it was the third and final of the tournament. It was sure to be the most difficult, most dangerous.

   “I’ve got months,” Harry said.

   “That’s what you said last time.”

   “She’s right, you know,” Hermione added.

   “But this time’s different. This time they’re telling me what the challenge is, so it doesn’t much matter if you see a vision of it, does it?” Harry said.

   Kim frowned at her eggs some more. “I don’t know… I’m still going to try. Something tells me it’s not going to be that straight forward. Whatever I see… it might be more useful than whatever they tell you. Like, if they had told you you were facing a dragon, you still wouldn’t’ve known how to fight it… if I had seen you with your broom, that would’ve made the whole thing loads easier.”

   Harry shrugged, seeming like he saw her point.

   “I know I shouldn’t be stressing about it,” Kim sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I just can’t help feeling like-…” But she didn’t want to say it. She didn’t want to say _like something is going to go terribly wrong._ She didn’t want to alarm Harry unnecessarily, but at the same time, what if not telling him caused him to walk into the third challenge unprepared for what was to come? _The Diviner’s Curse,_ she thought. To tell or not to tell. To act, or not to act…

   “Feeling like what?” Harry asked after a long pause.

   “Nothing. I’m just a worry wart,” Kim said, but there was no lightness in her tone. Still, Harry didn’t press it. _I’ll keep up with the divination. If I see something substantial, then I’ll tell him. But not before then._

   On the first Saturday of March Hogwarts had another Hogsmeade trip. Kim couldn’t seem to corner Fred and George long enough to ask them what they’re plans were. A bubble of worry rose in her stomach about it. _Fred’s been acting strange lately, hasn’t he? What’s been keeping him so preoccupied? And why won’t he talk to me about whatever it is anymore…_

   But before she had a chance to go after the twins about it, Harry invited her to come with them to Hogsmeade.

   “We’re going to be meeting Sirius there,” he whispered at dinner the day before.

   “What?” Kim exclaimed. Kim had heard little bits and pieces of the stories about Serious since Harry had found out that his god father wasn’t _actually_ guilty of the murderous crimes for which he was convicted, and still running from the law for. “ _Here?_ ”

“At Hogsmeade, yeah,” Harry said. Kim thought this sounded a bit like madness, but she didn’t press it because Harry already sounded worried.

   “Sure, I’ll come along,” Kim said. She was a little anxious to meet the man who had spent so many years in Azkaban, but intrigued at the same time. She would just have to pocket her worries about Fred for another day. _After Hogsmeade,_ she told herself. _I’ll just talk to him. I’m sure we’ll get everything sorted out._

   The next day Kim set out to Hogsmeade with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and Strix on her shoulder. They smuggled some food out of the castle for Sirius and stopped off at some shops along the way before they followed a country lane that lead them away from Hogsmeade. As they rounded a corner beside a quant country home, Kim spotted a small latter-like structure of sorts, allowing for passage over the wooden fence. Sitting on the structure was a shaggy, large black dog that startled Kim a bit upon sighting it. There was something keenly intelligent about the way it watched them, folded newspapers in its mouth. Harry approached the structure with the dog, much to Kim’s surprise.

   “Hello, Sirius,” said Harry, making Kim blink at the dog. But then of course she remembered that Sirius was an animagus, and this was his form. He eyed Kim curiously, tilting his head to the side before becoming distracted by the evident smell of food wafting from Harry’s bag. He sniffed it and nudged Harry happily, turning to climb down the structure’s other side, tail wagging. The four of them followed behind him as he lead them to the foot of the mountains where the terrain became rocky and uneven, and into a narrow gap in the rock wall into which the human sized people of their party had to squeeze.

   Kim sidled between the rock face after Harry and emerged into a cool cave which smelled a bit dank, and echoed with the clacking of talons on stone. Kim’s eyes quickly fell to the cause of the noise.

   “ _Buckbeak_ ,” she breathed out excitedly, hurrying to the hippogriff’s side. She stopped short, however, realizing that if the hippogriff that she had formed such a trusting bond with over a year ago no longer remembered her, running up to him could be dangerous. Strix, however, had no such fear, and she darted off Kim’s shoulder to flap excitedly around Buckbeak’s head. He nipped at Strix happily which made Kim smile, and then his golden eyes fell to Kim. She could see in them that he remembered her, so she approached slowly as Hermione and Ron sidled into the cave behind her.

   She wrapped her arms around his neck, her cheek feeling his downy feathers with delight. Being in the wild hadn’t lessened his excellent preening habits, and his coat was as glossy and soft as ever. Hermione came over and bowed to Buckbeak, who bowed back readily, before approaching the rest of the way and petting his back.

   “I don’t know how you’re so sure he’s alright with you approaching like that,” Hermione said to Kim as they both watched Strix clean Buckbeaks feathers affectionately. Kim shrugged.

   “It’s just a feeling. Somehow, you just know…”

   “Chicken!” came a hoarse voice from behind Kim, making her look over her shoulder. Where the dog had been, a gaunt and worn looking man now stood. He had long black hair, grazing his shoulders in tangles, and shadows under his eyes. His nails were crusted with dirt and he had a sheen of sweat on his body from being outside with no bath for some time.

   “Thanks,” he said, opening the bag Harry had handed him and grabbing out a drumstick. He sat on the cave floor and tore into it like an animal. “I’ve been living off rats mostly. Can’t steal too much food from Hotsmeade; I’d draw attention to myself.”

   Kim gave Hermione a half worried, half disgusted look and stepped away from Buckbeak a bit. At her movement, Sirius’s gaze drew up to her. He had the same wary tightness in his eyes that he’d had as a dog.

   “Who’s your friend?” he asked Harry, though he still looked at Kim. “Harry, I thought it was clear no one was to know about me except for Ron and Hermione.”

   “She already knew,” Harry said, apologetically. Sirius looked at him now. “You can trust her. She’s probably saved my life a couple times.”

   “Is that so?” Sirius said.

   “W-Well,” Kim stammered, “that’s probably a bit dramatic… but you can trust me,” she added hastily. “It’s not their fault they told me. They had to tell me they’d saved Buckbeak, and in telling me that…”

   “I see. I trust you understand the severity of this secret then.” Kim nodded earnestly, coming to sit beside Harry across from Sirius.

   “Kim’s not the one you have to worry about,” Harry continued. “What if they catch you? What if you’re seen?”

   “You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I’m an animagus,” Sirius said with a shrug, now seeming rather preoccupied with the chicken he was tearing apart with his teeth. Ron nudged Harry and handed him the paper Sirius had been carrying in his mouth. Kim read some of the headlines over Harry’s shoulder. They were about Bartemius Crouch who Kim only knew as one of the Triwizard judges, who had gone quite mysteriously ill recently and hadn’t been to work in some time.

   “They’re making it sound like he’s dying,” said Harry slowly. “But he can’t be that ill if he managed to get up here…”

   “What do you mean, up here?” Kim asked.

   “I saw him one night,” Harry explained, only to Kim. She was clearly the only person unaware of this bit of information. “With the Merauder’s Map.”

   “She knows about the Marauder’s Map too, hu,” Sirius said, though he sounded more conversational than angry. Kim understood his apprehension with her, but she was getting a little tired of the line of questions. She gave the tattered man an exasperated expression.

   “It was _my_ daft friends that gave it to him,” she remarked.

   Sirius seemed rather entertained by this, a smirk rising on his lips as he chewed on his chicken. “’s that so? Well it was _my_ daft friends what created the bloody thing, so I guess you and I have that much in common,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

   Kim was surprised by this. “Well. If Fred and George knew that they’d probably praise him like a God… Probably bring him tributes out here and everything,” she said with a smile at Harry. Harry seemed like he wanted to find it funny, but was too bothered by something to manage it.

   “Anyway,” Sirius said, “things are getting fishier. I’ve been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and as you can see, I’m not the only one who’s worried. All this about Crouch… it’s odd.”

   “Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn’t he?” said Hermione as she moved from Buckbeak to sit beside Kim.

   “Hermione’s obsessed with house elves,” Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius didn’t seem to take it as lightly, however.

   “Crouch sacked his house elf?”

   “Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup,” said Harry, and then he explained the whole event of the Dark Mark appearing that night, and how Winky had been found at the scene with Harry’s wand in her hand. By the end of the story, Serious was up and pacing around the cave.

   “Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you’d left the top box?” Sirius finally asked after turning over his thoughts for a few minutes.

   “Um… No. I didn’t need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars. Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the top box?”

   “It’s possible.”

   “Winky didn’t steal that wand!” Hermione insisted.

   “The elf wasn’t the only one in that box,” said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. “Who else was sitting behind you?”

   “Loads of people,” said Harry. “Some Bulgarian ministers… Cornelius Fudge… the Malfoys… Ludo Bagman…”

   “Hm… I don’t know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps. What’s he like?”

   “He’s okay,” Harry said, to which Kim made a face of disagreement.

   “No he’s not,” she said. They all looked at her. “Fred and George have had some business with him… I don’t think they’d want me talking about it too much, but I’ll say this, I get the distinct impression that Bagman acts like a nicer man than he really is to manipulate people. To get what he wants.”

   “What?” Ron said incredulously. “Come on…”

Kim shrugged. “I have my reasons. And I’m not usually wrong about this sort of thing.”

   “It’s more likely he did it than Winky,” Hermione reasoned.

   “Told you,” Ron groaned, looking at Sirius. “Told you she’s obsessed with house—“

   But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.

   “When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry’s wand, what did Crouch do?”

   “Went to look in the bushes,” said Harry, “but there wasn’t anyone else there.”

   “Of course,” Sirius muttered. “Of course, he’d want to pin it on anyone but his own elf… and then he sacked her?”

   “Yes,” said Hermione sourly. “He sacked her, just because she hadn’t stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled—

   “Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!” said Ron.

   “Ron, pull your foot out of your ass,” Kim hissed. He was being unnecessarily rude to Hermione and she was getting sick of it, especially after what had happened with Hermione at the ball....

   Ron looked at Kim, shocked at first, and then angry. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something but didn’t get the chance.

   “She’s got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron,” Sirius said. “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” He ran a hand over his stubble as he thought. “All these absences of Barty Crouch’s… he goes to the trouble of making sure his house elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn’t bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too… It’s not like Crouch. If he’s ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I’ll eat Buckbeak.” Kim made a face, glancing over her shoulder at the hippogriff and Strix who was still balled up on his head.

   “D’you know Crouch, then?” asked Harry.

   Sirius’s face darkened to a level Kim found rather impossible, and very intimidating. It was as if he had transformed into an entirely new man, one who _did_ belong within the walls of Azkaban. One who was capable of the most heinous crimes.

   “Oh I knew Crouch all right,” he said darkly. “He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban, without a trial.”

   “ _What_?” said Ron and Hermione together.

   “They can do that…” Kim asked, and Harry just looked like he had swallowed something expired.

   “They did it, one way or another,” Sirius said, taking another chicken leg and having a great bight. “Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn’t you know… He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic. He’s a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical, and power hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter,” he said, looking at Harry who had a look of suspicion on his face. “No, Barty Crouch was always very out spoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side… well, you wouldn’t understand… you’re too young…”

   “That’s what my dad said at the World Cup,” said Ron with a trace of irritation in his tone. “Try us, why don’t you?”

   Kim didn’t say anything, but she shared his sentiment. If this was to be their future, didn’t they need to know? If things were changing as they seemed… An aching in her stomach started, like a hollow had opened up as Sirius spoke.

   “All right,” he said, “I’ll try you… Imagine that Voldemort’s powerful now. You don’t know who his supporters are, you don’t know who’s working for him and who isn’t; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves.”

   Sirius’s voice was echoing against the cave walls in an unpleasant way that Kim didn’t remember from before. It was as if the walls were getting closer and closer in on them, and his voice was getting louder. She felt like her eyes were pulling deeper inside her head, and the swirling black pit in her stomach was growing larger. She _was_ imagining that Voldemort was powerful again, as Sirius had said. She could imagine it too easily, and it was making her stomach churn restlessly.

   “You’re scared for yourself,” Sirius continued, his voice drilling into Kim’s ears, “and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing…” Her head started to spin a bit. She could see it, feel it as if it were real. A world controlled by fear. “The Ministry of Magic’s in disarray, they don’t know what to do, they’re trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere…” Kim felt her heart thundering in her chest, clawing up into her throat. She tried to breathe evenly but it was impossible. It was like someone was squeezing her windpipe. “Panic…” The cave was pitch black now, shrouded in shadow and her eyelids were fluttering. With each blink she saw flashes of the depictions Sirius described. “Confusion… That’s how it used to be.”

   “ _That’s how it will be,_ ” Kim croaked, but she didn’t remember giving her lips permission to pronounce the words. Then she was sucked into darkness. She was plummeting down a cold dark tunnel that was channeling her deep into the darkest chasms of the earth. Falling. There was nothing but the raw fear in her stomach. Terror of the unknown, the complete disarray that darkness created, the feeling that anything could be coming for her at any time.

   A sickening shape took form, a body no larger than a child’s, but it _wasn’t_ a child. It was sickly and drawn. It wasn’t even human, pulling in rasping breaths through its silted nostrils, and it’s _eyes of blood._ Kim screamed a curdling scream that tore out of her, ripping her windpipe as it did.

   “Kim!” Harry exclaimed, his hand clutching her shoulder as he squeezed her. She shot up, but regretted it immediately, her head swimming. She was in Sirius’s cave again. Her eyes swept over the cave, disoriented, and landed on a tall, black, cloaked figure standing over Harry’s shoulder. Kim screamed again and reeled backwards, dragging herself away from the figure, grasping Harry’s arm and pulling him along too.

   “You’re all right, Kim,” Sirius said, coming to her other side. Panic rose in her throat because she thought the figure was Lord Voldemort, coming to take Harry for the last time, but no… As she looked back up to where the figure had stood, so surly, moments ago, she saw that it was nothing but a shadow. Her head was playing tricks on her… It was the darkness of the cave that had done it… That was all.

   She heaved out a trembling sigh of relief has she released her clutching tight grip on Harry’s arm, and Sirius patted her shoulder.

   “You’re all right,” he said again, his voice surprisingly soothing. “You passed out for a few minutes. I suspect it’s from the stress of it all…”

   She looked at him a bit hotly, still breathing heavy from her startle. “It _wasn’t_ from the stress of it all,” she said sharply. His eyebrows rose in surprise. She wanted to say what she had seen, what it had _felt_ like. But then she looked at Harry.

   What had she seen? What was that thing? She needed to be careful about what she said to him. She didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily. But after her last statement, Sirius was clearly expecting an explanation, and she certainly didn’t want him thinking she was some kind of light hearted child who couldn’t handle his tales of darkness.

   “I’m a diviner,” Kim said. “Sometimes… they come without warning. Visions, I mean.”

   At this Sirius was even more surprised, and perhaps a little bit impressed. He released Kim’s shoulder and looked at Harry with a smirk.

   “Quite the collection of friend you have there, Harry,” he said wryly. Harry forced a smile, but it returned to a nervous look at Kim.

   “I couldn’t really make it out,” Kim explained, before Harry could ask what her vision was about. “I’m sorry. Sometimes that happens, sometimes they’re just really unclear…” She wasn’t lying. It had been really unclear. She wasn’t even certain what she had seen at all. She didn’t know what words she would use to describe it other than _terrible,_ and if she managed to get it accurate, what it would mean to any of them anyway? Most likely nothing, since it had been nothing but a snippet of awful nonsense. She swallowed down the remaining fear that was living in the place just behind her jaw and tried to forget the shriveled thing from her dream.

   She scooted to sit back with the others as Sirius rubbed his stubble again in thought.

   “So…” he said, seeming to be continuing a conversation that Kim had been asleep for. “Is Crouch really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape’s office that night Harry saw him on the map… And if he’s not… what’s he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important that he didn’t turn up in the top box? What’s he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?”

   They all fell into silence as Buckbeak poked around the cave floor for more bones to crunch on. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron.

   “You say your brother’s Crouch’s personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he’s seen Crouch lately?”

   “I can try,” Ron said doubtfully. “Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch.”

   “And you might try and find out whether they’ve got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you’re at it,” said Sirius.

   “Bagman told me they hadn’t,” Harry said.

   “Well you can’t really trust Bagman anyway. Trust me. If he’s trying to save face about something, he’s not going to tell you a thing,” Kim said. Sirius seemed to be chewing on this thought.

   “Bertha was dim when I knew here, but she had an excellent memory for gossip,” he said. “It used to get her in a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic… maybe that’s why Bagman didn’t bother to look for her for so long…” He then heaved a sigh as he rubbed his shadowed eyes. “What’s the time?”

   “It’s half past three,” Hermione said.

   “You’d better get back to school,” Sirius said, standing. The rest of them did the same. “Now listen… I don’t want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right?” He was mostly looking at Harry. “I still want to hear about anything odd, just send notes to me here. But you’re not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you.”

   “No one’s tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows,” said Harry, getting a scowl from Sirius in return.

   “I don’t care… I’ll breathe freely again when this tournament’s over, and that’s not until June.”

   “Me too,” Kim agreed with a sigh, trying to expel the excess stress that was building up on her chest.

   “And don’t forget, if you’re talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?”

   They all moved to give Buckbeak their last few pats goodbye, Strix flapping to Kim’s shoulder as she called her name and they headed for the exit of the cave. As Harry sidled between the rocks, Sirius looked to Kim.

   “I don’t know how good of a Diviner you are…”

   It seemed like it was meant as a question of sorts, so Kim shrugged.

   “What I’m saying is, I’ve rarely heard of witches passing out and convulsing like you were. Speaking without control of what they say…” Kim had been convulsing? What exactly had she said? The whole thing was rather fuzzy in her memory now, like when someone wakes up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water and can barely remember it in the morning.

   “Only the real thing,” Sirius added sternly.

   “Yeah, well… I am the real thing,” Kim said, and it felt oddly empowering to say. She had spent so long doubting herself. She supposed some parts of her still doubted herself at times, but she’d seen the future enough to know this wasn’t a hoax or some coincidence. This was her ability; her gift and her curse.

   “If that’s the case… and I don’t ask this lightly, I know you’re just a… just a child, same as Harry…” Kim’s face hardened a bit at this. “Look after him. If you can.”

   At this all semblance of hardness melted from her features, and she looked at the tired looking man with new eyes. Hermione was eyeing him as well, with a bit of surprise, and Ron probably hadn’t heard since he was already sidling through the cave’s wall.

   “Y-yeah… of course. I will,” Kim said. Sirius gave a tight, joyless smile and placed a hand on Kim’s shoulder. With a meaningful nod he looked then to the cave exit.

   “Better go then,” he muttered, and released her. In a blink he was no longer man, but dog, and he followed behind Kim out the cave. They all walked to the village edge where they patted Sirius’s head and bid him farewell. The four of them then made the trip back to Hogwarts, all weighted down with the tasks they faced ahead of them.


	17. Boyfriend

Chapter 17

Boyfriend

   The following Sunday Kim tried to find Fred and George but they must’ve stayed in the Gryffindor common room all day, because she never spotted them, and when she went to the fat lady to ask someone to get them to come out, the boy came back saying he couldn’t find them within.

   Kim had a busy schedule too. Between classes and trying to meditate during lunch and dinner in empty rooms, she barely had any free time left. But she was still making an _effort_ to seek out the twins, and she couldn’t help feeling they were dodging her purposefully at this point.

   “ _There_ you are,” she said with relief. She had spotted the two of them in the library one afternoon and was coming to sit beside them. Just as she did, however, Fred was beginning to pack up his things, like the sight of her had carried in a bad smell that he just couldn’t stand to say around for. “Where are you going?” she asked accusingly.

   “Who me?” Fred asked.

   “Yes _you_. Who else?”

   “Uh, I was just off to the common room.”

   Kim put her hands on her hips, standing grudgingly in front of Fred so he couldn’t properly stand without entering her personal space. “What for?” she asked.

   “What?” he said, screwing up his face as he stuffed his quill into his bag, acting like it was an absurd question. And maybe it was. Maybe this was all in her head, like so many other of her worries seemed to be sometimes… _No,_ she told herself. _You haven’t had so much as a pleasant conversation with Fred in weeks… months even! Something is wrong._

   Kim sighed all the same, her intensity greatly diminished from the small amount of self-doubt that was now spreading through her.

   “I just meant… I was hoping to talk to you,” Kim said, following his face up as he stood, now standing very close to her. He glanced at her for a moment, but didn’t seem to want to look her in the eye. His eyes danced around the bookshelves behind her uncomfortably.

   “Um, maybe later, Kim,” he said. “I just can’t right now.”

   “But Fred—

   “’Scuse me,” he muttered, and nearly pushed past Kim, but she stepped out of the way before their bodies made contact. He threw his bag over his shoulder and strode briskly out of the library. Kim watched him leave, feeling like someone had just pulled out a knife that had been stuck in her side for some time without her knowing. Now the wound was open again and she was bleeding onto the carpet.

   “Do you know what’s going on with him?” she asked, turning to look at George who still sat in a chair by the table they’d both been working at. He shook his head, looking a bit bewildered after Fred as well. He turned his attention back to his paper.

   “Please tell me you’re not mad at me? Either of you?”

   “What for?” he asked plainly. Kim couldn’t figure it out. He didn’t seem to be lying or covering something up. But certainly something had to be wrong…

   “I don’t know,” Kim admitted after a moment’s pause. She looked back at the exit Fred had just left through mournfully as George continued with his work. “Well… I guess I’ll let you get back to it then,” she said sadly, and left before George had a chance to say anything else, not that he would try to stop her. Lately it seemed as if both of them were much happier when she simply wasn’t around.

   A few weeks later she found them mid meal at dinner. She sat down between them, deciding to put off her usual meditation to try and spend some time with them.

   “Hey,” she said lightly as she grabbed a plate. “I feel like I haven’t seen you guys much lately,” she said with a light laugh. And she really hadn’t. She sat with them every now and then at breakfast, during which she usually sat in silence while they engaged each other or someone else. That seemed like nothing at all compared to the chatter filled meals that they used to spend together, not to mention their escapades every weekend.

   “Oh! And Happy Birthday!” she said excitedly, though she was admittedly forcing it. She was still afraid they were just going to ignore her, or shun her or something in between. But George smiled and nodded as thanks, since his mouth was full. “So…” Kim ventured, “what’ve you been up to? Working on more stuff for your joke shop?”

   George nodded eagerly, seeming like his usual self. He swallowed down his mouthful of food so he could speak. “We’ve come up with some good stuff, too. We’ll have to show you sometime.”

   Kim smiled at him widely, feeling his acceptance of her like a warm embrace. She glanced nervously to her other side at Fred. He was looking blankly at his plate.

   “You think so?” she said, still staring at Fred, trying to get him to look at her, but he didn’t. “That would be good…” 

   She sighed heavily. Fred was almost finished with his meal. If this diner was going to go like they had been for the last few months he was going to shovel in the last few bights and be off before she had the chance to even force him to say hello.

   “Hey, Fred,” she said in a timid voice. He merely glanced at her. “I- I was just wondering if you might want to… I don’t know… do something… sometime…”

   Fred looked like he’d swallowed something sharp. “Like what?” he asked plainly.

   Kim felt her mouth go dry, and she was gripping her knees under the table rather hard. “I don’t know… I just thought… I mean, I just haven’t seen you much lately, and I kind of miss being around you.”

   “You’re around me right now,” he said with a forced smile before quickly stuffing in another forkful of food.

   “I meant… just the two of us… kind of thing…” Kim muttered, her lips tripping up the words. But she knew Fred had heard her because he got that look again, the ‘I-swallowed-a-porcupine’ look.

   “Um, sure Kim,” he said hastily after swallowing his food. Kim’s expression immediately brightened as she felt a thousand pounds lift off her. But Fred was pushing aside his plate and making to stand up already, seeming in a rush again.

   “W-wait, when?”

   “Uh, I don’t know,” he said with a careless shrug, standing. “Whenever we’re both free.” And just like that he had slinked away again, escaping down between the rows of tables.

   “Where is he going?” Kim asked George.

   “I don’t know. He’s been dodgy lately,” he said, shaking his head with a frown.

   “So you’ve noticed it too!”

   George just shrugged. “Must be his time of the month.” He pushed aside his own plate and stood too. “Better catch up with him. See you later.”

   Kim groaned once George was gone, burying her head in her folded arms on the table. That was it. She’d had enough. She was _going_ to get to the bottom of this somehow. But she still needed to be delicate about it… If Fred _was_ mad at her for something, she didn’t want to make it worse.

   It was Easter holiday before she had the chance to find George alone. He was walking in the hallway with Fred, but Kim managed to pull him aside.

   “What is it?” George asked once he had followed her down a hall away from Fred, who had looked at the two of them suspiciously and then continued on his way.

   “Can I just talk to you for a bit? I really miss hanging out with the two of you, and Fred is being… _really weird._ ”

   “Yeah, sure,” George said with a shrug. “Let’s walk.” They started to walk leisurely down the hallway.

   “First of all… how are things going with Bagman?”

   George shrugged. “No better. He’s avoiding us still, and I’m trying to keep Fred from threatening the man’s life.”

   “Good. I mean, good that you’re keeping Fred from threatening him. That’s more danger than it’s worth.”

   “How about with your visions? Gotten anything for Harry yet? I notice you’ve been sneaking away to herbally induce yourself during meals. Is that strictly legal by the way?” he asked, crinkling his nose.

   Kim laughed, already feeling lighter than she had in months. “Yes, it’s completely legal, and non-recreational. It’s _magic_ , George, not drugs.”

   “Right. Just checking.”

   Kim heaved a heavy sigh. Time to ask the question that was really weighing on her. “You’ve got to tell me what’s going on with Fred.”

   “I don’t know what’s going on with Fred. He’s normal most of the time.”

   “Just not around me.”

   “… I guess,” George said, sounding sorry. “I haven’t really noticed but… I guess he has been a bit skittish.”

   “A _bit skittish_? George, he’s been completely avoiding me. We went from having private, I don’t know, kind of dates I guess- or at least I thought they were dates, at the Three Broomsticks- to not saying a word to me. When I try to hold a conversation with him, he answers me with as few words as possible and then disappears. I don’t understand! What did I do wrong? Is he mad at me or something?”

   “Not that I know of.”

   “You’ve got to ask him for me,” she pleaded. He looked at her wearily as they approached a pair of arm chairs and a couch in a large corner section of hallway. He flopped down on the couch, Kim beside him. “Please,” she added.

   “What do you want me to say?” he said, still not sounding sure.

   “I don’t know… ask him what’s going on between us. Just pretend you’re curious or something,” Kim said with a shrug. George seemed the opposite of enthused. Kim sighed helplessly. “I don’t know, I just don’t know what else to do.” She let her forehead fall and land on George’s shoulder, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. “I’m so confused…”

   George crossed his arms and took a deep breath. He then looked down at Kim by his shoulder. “You really like him, don’t you?”

   Kim looked up, surprised by the question. She parted her lips to answer but found, peering into George’s soft, warm expression, that the answer wasn’t readily available to her. How did she feel? She supposed it was hard to sort all that out with everything that was going on. All she really knew was that she had felt her happiest when she was with Fred the way they had been the night of the ball. She desperately wanted to feel like that again. If that wasn’t what it meant to be falling for someone, she didn’t know what was.

   “Yes,” she said. “Yeah, I don’t know how it happened, but I do really like him… And I thought he liked me too.”

   “I’m sure he does. Don’t take all this personally… There’s something you’ve got to understand about Fred…” George took a deep breath like he was about to delve into a complex explanation of Fred’s interworkings. Kim listened intently. “He’s a bit of an ass,” he said, his serious expression sliding into a smile as he gave way to a chuckle. Kim shook her head at him, smiling too.

   “Seriously, though, he is sometimes,” he continued. “I’ll talk to him and ask him what his problem is. Alright?”

   “Thank you,” Kim sighed, unable to convey just how thankful she was to have a friend like George. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. You know I thought you both were mad at me for a while, like last year…”

   “Mad at you?” he asked with a smile, stretching back. “You’ve got an active imagination, you know that?”

   “What’s that supposed to mean?”

   “We were never mad at you last year. We thought _you_ were mad at _us_. Probably something mental like that is going on now,” he smirked. Kim smiled. If she’d been asked that morning she would’ve said it was impossible to feel this light.

   “You think?”

   “Knowing the two of you dimwits, probably,” he laughed. Even though he was making fun of her and Fred, it still made her feel loads better to think it was possible that this was somehow some silly miscommunication that would be easily straighten out once George spoke with Fred. She very much liked to think that.

   For the next few weeks Kim was constantly shooting George meaningful looks that he either conveniently didn’t see or pretended not to understand. When she had chanced to speak with him under her breath, asking him if he’d asked Fred about anything yet, he always said _not yet_. Finally one day Kim was giving George just such a look from across the library when he rolled his eyes and stood up forcefully, coming across to Kim.

   “This way,” he muttered, leading her away to stand between a secluded bookshelf where they wouldn’t be overheard. _This is it,_ Kim thought. _Is he mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Was it just a misunderstanding? What do I have to do to fix this, just tell me and I’ll do it!_

   “You just need to talk to him yourself,” George said, looking at Kim seriously.

   “…What?”

   “He won’t tell me anything. I tried bringing it up, and he just acts like there’s nothing to talk about.”

   “Nothing to talk about?” Kim said in a high voice. “But—”

   “I know,” George said, interrupting. “But he won’t tell me. Just talk to him yourself. What’s the worst that could happen?”

   “I- I- I…” Kim looked all about the bookshelf beside her but she wasn’t seeing it. “What do I say…”

   “Say what you said to me,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not gonna be your messenger anymore, Kim.”

   At this Kim looked to him, her expression desperately apologetic. “I’m sorry. I just… I’m really scared I’m going to screw this up, and I thought since you’re his brother… no one knows him better than you. I thought he’d talk to you before he would me…”

   “It’s okay. Just talk to him. He’s a stubborn idiot. Make him face whatever it is, it’s the only way anything’s going to change.”

   Kim nodded, trying to imagine herself doing it, though she couldn’t quite. It took her weeks to screw up the courage to pull Fred aside. Not only was she ravenously busy, she was hardly sleeping now from the stress. Every night she tossed and turned with dreams of terrible things happening to Harry, of grand world destruction, of Fred’s rejection. It was mid May when she finally decided it was time to force her own hand. She’d been talking herself in and out of it for long enough. She just needed to act. Rip off the band aid. They were either never going to be, which seemed highly likely at this point, or there was still a sliver of hope, and this was it. If she didn’t act on it, she simply would always wonder, and that would drive her crazy. Not to mention it would probably ruin their friendship, and she couldn’t have that.

   “Fred, we need to talk. Come on,” she said, her hands shaking.

   “Talk? Talk about what?” he said. Kim shot George a look who was standing beside him in the courtyard outside.

   “Just go with her,” George said, nudging Fred, who looked at him like he was a traitor for half an instant and then forced his features back to neutral. Spring had fully set in on the Hogwarts grounds, so many of the students were enjoying the outdoors on a day like that one when it was fairly warm. Kim led Fred away from the other students to a place near the lake where they wouldn’t be overheard. She thought she was going to throw up, and this was even worse than the usual deep-in-her-gut terrible feeling she’d been walking around with lately.

   “What’s wrong?” Fred asked after they had been standing there for a few moments in silence, Kim gripping the edges of her robe and staring at her shoes.

   “I don’t know, Fred… That’s why I’m trying to talk to you. I’ve _been_ trying to talk to you, but every time I do you run off.”

   “No I don’t,” he said with nervous laughter.

   “Don’t play stupid,” Kim said, a flair of anger making her brave. “I don’t want to be played with, Fred. Just tell me honestly what happened? What did I do wrong?”

   “Wrong, you didn’t do anything wrong…”

   “Then why are you ignoring me all of a sudden?” Kim said, increasing in volume. “Why are you avoiding me like the plague? I thought we were-” but her voice cut out on her before she could finish her sentence. She turned away from Fred to face the lake, watching its surface ripple.

   Fred sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, making Kim glance at him out of the corner of her eye. “I didn’t mean to confuse you… It’s not that I’m mad at you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

   “Then what is it?” she asked. Fred chewed on nothing until it became clear he wasn’t sure how to answer. “Did you just-… did you just never have any feelings for me at all?” Kim asked, feeling her voice get high and wavering. “Because if that was it, I just wish you would have _told_ me and saved yourself the trouble of-” but she couldn’t finish. She pressed her fingers against her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. She searched the surface of the dark teal water as if it were the depths of Fred himself, desperately wishing she could see beneath its rippled peaks.

   “Hey,” Fred said gently, his hand touching her shoulder. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was for his touch until she felt the electricity stroke through her spine as his fingertips connected with her shoulder. He turned her gently to look at him, his expression tight.

   “It’s not that I don’t have feelings for you either…” he said. This didn’t make Kim feel any better. She was no closer to a resolution, and she could still here the unspoken _but_ at the end of his sentence. She sniffled and lowered her hand from her mouth.

   “What then?”

   “I’m just… George told me a while back, off handedly, that you called me your boyfriend.”

   Kim felt embarrassment slide clammily down her back, making her look away. That certainly felt like a stupid thing to say now. That clearly wasn’t what they were. They had clearly _never_ been… how naive she was.

   “I’m just not sure I’m ready to be that. And it’s clear that’s what you want… I don’t think that’s what I want.”

   Kim was quiet for a long time, feeling her throat clamped down tight. “Oh…”

   “But I’m not sure if I _don’t_ want that, either,” he added quickly, as if he was afraid of her impending tears. But it was too late, and Kim couldn’t really hold them back. A small sob escaped from her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut as tears leaked from them. He pulled her into a hug, letting her crumple against his chest even if just this once. They were quite for a moment as Kim tried to collect herself, though she wasn’t certain she wanted to. Once she did, Fred might never hold her like this again. Finally she stood up, wiping her cheeks forcefully.

   “What do you need then?” she asked “What do I need to do, to make you know?”

   Fred seemed taken aback by this question. “I-… time… Time, I just need some time…”

   Kim nodded and tried to breathe steadily. “Okay. Time. I can give you some time. But only under one condition.”

   Fred looked a little nervous, but he said, “What?” anyway.

   “Stop avoiding me. I’ll give you whatever time you want, as long as things can go back to relatively normal in the meantime. I can’t stand you running away from me like I’m contagious every time I come around.” Fred seemed to be less nervous now, but Kim had another worry she was considering whether or not to voice. It was almost the end of the year. They only had a month left. What if it took Fred longer than a month to figure himself out? What if summer came and none of this was sorted? Would it just fade away into nothingness? Would it never be answered?

   “And you have to write me over the summer,” she added, decidedly.

   Fred gave a tired smile. “That’s two conditions.” Kim scowled. “But that’s fine. From now on, I’ll be as normal as can be,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender.

   “ _And_?”

   “And, I promise to write you this summer.”

   Kim sighed. This hadn’t gone at all _well._ But it could have gone much worse, too. “Okay,” she finally said, sounding mildly satisfied, though nowhere near happy. They stood there silently for a moment.

   “…So you… you really like me, hu?” Fred asked, and though it seemed like a stupid question to Kim, he sounded genuine. When she looked up at him, she saw that he was eyeing her with something almost like worry or puzzlement. Like he had to solve the riddle of her soon or he’d be in some kind of trouble, though she couldn’t imagine why. She’d been painfully transparent, as far as she could tell.

   “Yeah, Fred. Doesn’t take a genius,” she said a bit sharply with a shrug. He snorted and started to turn back to the direction they had come from, Kim following his lead. She was glad he decided not to make a joke about it, or respond at all. She wasn’t sure she could handle a conversation about her feelings for Fred, not now that she had just suffered rejection from him. When they got back to the courtyard where the twins had been before, she caught the gaze of George who saw her puffy red eyes and approached her.

   “You okay?” he asked.

   “Yeah, I’m fine,” Kim said, unconvincingly. “He said he’s just _not sure if he wants a relationship_.” She was unable to keep the sour tone from the words. Now that it was sinking in, she was growing less and less grateful that it wasn’t a worse situation, and more and more spiteful that this was the situations she was stuck with.

   “I guess that’s not surprising,” George said. “’Spose he’s not usually the relationship type.”

   “Great,” she said, loud and sharp. “Now you tell me. I’m going to my room,” she grumbled, and left hastily to the relative safety of the dormitory. That was until she realized Victoria the Evil could come in at any moment and peer into her closed bed curtains, at which point Kim slinked into the bathroom, found a nice, lonesome stall, and cried quietly for a long time.

* * *

   By the end of May, Harry was told that the last challenge was to be a maze. The first person to the end would get the highest score, and so on down the line. Kim couldn’t imagine it was going to be that simple however. They had told Harry there would be obstacles, but had been extremely vague on that point. At least that gave her an angle. That was what she would try to see in her visions, not that she had made any progress. Truth be told, she had momentarily given up on divination, ever since Fred had told her he wasn’t sure he wanted a relationship. But this news had snapped her out of it at least a little.

   But there was more. Harry had evidently run into Barty Crouch outside one day, but Crouch had not at all been himself. He had been acting completely mad, muttering nonsense about the Triwizard Tournament, danger, something being his fault, his son, and then Lord Voldemort. None of it settled well with Kim. As the third task grew nearer the constant uncomfortable ach in the back of her stomach had only gotten more and more prominent. Now when she woke every morning it was with the feeling that she had swallowed a small cannon ball and it had pulled her stomach to settle against her spine near the small of her back in the night.

   One morning at breakfast, Kim was combating just such a feeling as she sat down beside Ron and across from Hermione and Harry. Kim had either already missed Fred and George, or they hadn’t come down yet, but either way they weren’t at the table.

   “Kim,” Ron said after clearing his throat and drawing her gaze. “Do you know what my brothers are up to?”

   Kim snorted. “At which hour of the day.”

   Ron simply continued looking at her expectantly.

   “You’re going to have to be more specific than that,” Kim said.

   “D’you know anything about them blackmailing someone?”

   At this, Kim’s smirk froze and faded away. “What makes you say that?”

   “We overheard them in the owlery talking about it. They told us they were just joking afterwards, but… didn’t sound like it really.”

   Kim gritted her teeth. _Bagman,_ she thought.

   “I’m just worried about ‘em, to be honest. They’ve gotten a bit obsessed with this joke shop business, haven’t they?”

   Kim sighed. “They have. It’s what they want more than anything.”

   “So you think it’s true? You think they’re blackmailing someone for money?” he asked with concern in his tone.

   Kim pulled herself from her serious thoughts and put on a smile. “What? No… No way, that’s way too far. Besides, they would’ve told me.” She looked over Ron’s shoulder as she spoke to check down the line of Gryffindor heads again, looking for a pair of crimson ones.

   “I wish I felt as sure as you…”

   She spotted them then, walking into the Great Hall and sitting down farther up the table. Kim looked back to Ron as she made to stand up, picking up her still full plate.

   “Listen, don’t worry about it, Ron. I’ll check in with them and make sure everything’s okay.”

   With that she was hurrying down the aisle and pushing in between the twins.

   “Oi! Could try a bit nicer,” Fred complained as she elbowed in.

   “What did you send to Bagman?” she hissed to him very quietly.

   Fred looked taken aback. “What?”

   “Don’t play stupid with me,” she said, now turning on George. “I know you’ve done something, what is it?”

   George merely gave a flickering glance to Fred, but the tightness around the corners of his mouth was enough for Kim to know she was right.

   “Oh my god, you idiots,” she groaned, dropping her forehead into her hands. She was completely abandoning the odd distance game she and Fred had been playing since they’d had their talk. Sure, they’d agreed to act as though everything was ‘normal’ but it still hadn’t felt normal up to this point. Kim found herself watching what she said, tip toeing around him, and Fred seemed uncharacteristically tense, insuring that his long limbs didn’t accidently bump or graze her. But now all of that was thrown away by Kim’s aggravation that they might actually be getting themselves into some real trouble this time. Trouble that some good looks and charms won’t get them out of, and for which detention wasn’t the consequence.

   “I don’t know what my pin headed little brother told you,” Fred began, evidently having put two and two together, “but everything is just fine. We’re carrying on like normal, that’s all you need to know.”

   “You _blackmailed_ him?” Kim whispered incredulously. “That’s not carrying on like normal.”

   “Well what were we supposed to do!”

   “I don’t know Fred, but aren’t you worried about getting in trouble… with the _law_. It’s not exactly legal to threaten someone like that, and then there’s the other side of this… if Bagman is really willing to cheat people out of their earnings, what else is he willing to do? What will he do if he thinks you’re going to make good on your threat- whatever it was? Are you really so sure he’d just give you the money, or do something just as shady and bad back to you guys?” Kim looked between the twins, Fred looking stoic and determined, though George showed hints of worry.

   “What’s done is done,” Fred said with a shrug. “Can’t take it back now. We’ll just have to see what he does.”

   Kim sighed. “I hope, I really do hope, that he just gives you the money. I can’t even tell you how much I want that for you guys, but… well, just promise you’ll tell me what’s going on. Just tell me what he does next, okay?”

   Fred’s mouth was a hard line but he gave a short nod. She looked to George for his confirmation as well.

   “We will,” he said.

   As irritated with them as she was, it was good to feel normal again. That didn’t really erase the sore feeling in her chest when she looked at Fred. She didn’t seem capable of forgetting the way his hand felt on her shoulder, guiding her to their seats at the ball, or that sly smile he’d give her sometimes when he’d said something clever and flirtatious, or his features softening just before he froze up and ran away.


	18. The Man in the Purple Robes

Chapter 18

The Man in the Purple Robes

    There was barely a week left until the final challenge now, and Kim could feel herself slipping under the stress. She’d wake up in the morning and look at herself in the mirror, bags under her eyes, and think, _this isn’t even your problem. You won’t be facing any challenges. You won’t be going up against any danger…_ But that never made the stress lessen in the slightest. She stopped trying to tame her hair that was getting wilder from tossing and turning endlessly through the night. A hooded figure haunted her dreams, and a gut wrenching feeling greeted her when she awoke. Every sound, someone dropping the lid of the toilet seat, shutting the door a little firmly to the girl’s bathroom, a bag being thrown from someone’s shoulder and onto the floor carelessly, would make her flinch and clutch the edge of the sink or the desk or her knees, whatever was in reach. She dug her nails in and tried to remember _I still have ‘till next week to figure this out._

   “Are you eating all right?” came a sudden voice that made Kim jump so hard she nearly came out of her own skin. She clutched her heart that was thundering in her chest and looked wearily over her shoulder at Fred who was coming to sit beside her at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Her eyelids lulled when she saw him and she dropped her hand.

   “I’m fine,” she said dully, turning back to her food which, were she being honest, she would’ve admitted she had no appetite for. She forced a bight to make her lie seem genuine.

   “You seem… on edge…” he said tentatively.

   “Where’s George?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.

   “On his way…” He let out a sound of forfeit and leaned in a bit closer so he could speak under his breath. “Kim, this isn’t about…”

   She looked up at him, waiting, but he just searched her eyes in silence for a while, frank concern that was so rarely found on his sharp features hiding in every wrinkle and crease of his brow.

   “About what?” she prompted.

   “You know… you and I?”

   Kim stared at him dumbly for a second before she let out a joyless laugh, or more an exhale of exasperated air that sort of sounded like a laugh.

   “No,” she said, shaking her head. Fred immediately hardened and straightened up, looking away and seeming a bit regretful. Kim thought she should perhaps feel sorry for being so blunt if she had the capacity to feel anything besides creeping dread.

   “No, it’s not that,” she continued. “Though it hasn’t helped.”

   At this he seemed a bit sorry again, if only for an instant. “What is it then?”

   “Nothing. You wouldn’t understand it anyway…” She didn’t realize how painful it was that she found it to be true. He wouldn’t understand. Anyone who she told would simply think she was worrying for nothing. But she _wasn’t._ She just knew it.

   Either Fred didn’t know how else to coax the information out of Kim, or he lost interest in trying to do so, but he stopped bothering her about it and they didn’t speak much after that. Once Kim had the chance, she made her way to an abandoned classroom that she’d been visiting on her off times. She shut the door and drew the herbs out of her bag, setting them out to burn beside where she sat on the floor, cross legged. Strix was perched on her shoulder, more fidgety and needy than usual. Perhaps she could since Kim’s discomfort.

   Kim inhaled a deep breath, feeling the herbs already beginning to take her mind away from her. She didn’t have to try and clear her mind; that was what the smoke was for. The hard part was keeping her mind focused during all of this. She had recently been out to visit the quidditch field, or what once was, and what was now the grounds for the third challenge. She thought having an image of the maze in her mind might help her. She clung to it now, and though she was sure it wasn’t fully finished and it didn’t look as it would on the night of the challenge, Kim felt it aiding her focus. She simply grasped onto the image of the tall shrubs creating winding patterns as she was pulled into nonexistence. She imagined Harry at their entrance, small in comparison to the long dark expanse, misty tendrils coiling up from the grass and into the cool night sky. What awaited him within? What was to come…

   “ _Crucio!_ ” came an unfamiliar voice, followed by a man’s screams. Kim was standing in contrasted darkness, all eerie green shadow, her wand lighting her path which was closed in on either side by great bushes. Her breathing drew in sharply, realizing something terrible was happening on the other side of the bush she stood beside. She ran frantically up the path trying to round the corner of the bush, but there seemed to be no end to the wall. Beyond the small halo of her wand light was shrouded in darkness. Perhaps she could run for ever on this path and never find a way over to the screaming boy. So she returned to where the scream was the loudest, gulping in breaths as she tried to think clearly.

   With her wand she blasted a small fire into the bush beside her. It was effective enough to smolder away a torso sized hole, filling her nostrils with ash. She kicked her leg through the shrub, letting the thick brambles scratch against her skin as she forced her way through until she broke to the other side. She thrust her body through the hole, sticks and thick leaves scraping her face, stinging, tearing her clothes. Then she was on the other side, and there was a handsome boy with golden brown hair, writhing on the ground as though a strong current of electricity was probing through his body. Kim stared at him with wide eyes, fear bubbling up into her throat, just before she looked up to meet the vacant gaze of Victor Krum.

   Kim gasped, eyes flying open. Strix was flapping around Kim’s head, circling her and causing light from the windows to flash into her eyes disorientingly. She blinked as Strix landed and prodded at Kim’s shoulders with her feet. Kim’s breath was still coming in fast draws when she propelled herself off the classroom floor, gathering her things hastily and tossing the ash of the herbs in the trash. She slung her bag over her shoulder and marched from the classroom, and strait to Dumbledore’s office. She’d endured this long enough; feeling, _knowing_ that something terrible was going to happen. Now she was even surer. This wasn’t simply a suggestion. Someone was going to die the night of the Triwizard Tournament. And Kim was petrified it was going to be Harry.

   “ _Dumbledore_ ,” Kim demanded before the statue leading into his office. “I need to speak with you right away please….” She waited, staring stupidly at the gargoyle. The last time she had come to see Dumbledore, she had managed to see him quite by chance as he was about to enter his office. As for now, she wasn’t even certain he was inside.

   “Please, Headmaster, it’s very important. It’s about Harry.” She wasn’t even sure why she felt he could hear her, only that there was something about Professor Dumbledore that assured her if a student said they were in need of him, he would be there. She waited another moment, and just like that the statue started to move, sliding upward and revealing the staircase. Kim hopped on and rode it upward toward the door to Dumbledore’s office and gave it a rapid knock.

   “Come in, Kim,” came his deep and wizened voice. She opened the door and shut it behind her hurriedly, finding Dumbledore standing behind his desk, resting his fingers against its surface.

   “Yes?” he asked after she’d stood there for a moment. She’d come strait here, full of determination. Now that she was before the headmaster though, picking out the right words to say was proving difficult. Again she found herself faced with the likelihood of sounding crazy. But then she thought of Harry in that maze and her stomach churned. She remembered what Sirius had asked her before she’d left his cave. _Look after Harry. If you can._

   Kim sighed, preparing to take the plunge, and took another step closer to Dumbledore’s desk. “Professor, I’m sorry to disturb you all of a sudden. I-… I’ve just seen something. In the future, I mean.”

   “Ah, another vision then. Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the wooden arm chair before his desk. Kim sat as did Dumbledore in his own chair. “Tell me what you saw that has you so concerned.”

   “It was in the maze. The third challenge. Victor Krum,” Kim said with malice. “He used the Cruciatus curse on Cedric Diggory.”

   Professor Dumbledore showed no emotion except for the light incline of one of his eyebrows and the faintest tightening around his wrinkled eyes. He drew in a breath.

   “Well, unfortunately Kim, we cannot prosecute someone based on actions that they haven’t yet done. No matter how certain it is that they will,” he said, lowering his head a bit to look at her over top of his half-moon spectacles.

   “But sir, you don’t understand… I think we-… We have to stop the challenge. We have to cancel the Triwizard Tournament,” she said desperately.

   He seemed to be mulling this over for some time before he said, “We simply cannot.”

   “What? But something terrible is going to happen! Not just what I saw, but something else. I’m sure of it. I’ve felt it since the first day the Triwizard Tournament was announced!”

   Dumbledore was studying her wordlessly, and his silence was enough to drive Kim mad.

   “I _have_ to stop it!”

   “Kim,” Dumbledore said firmly. “It simply can’t be done. The goblet of fire which chose the champions is a form of strong binding magic. Why do you think we have not taken Harry out of the tournament already? Certainly you don’t think I want him competing underage?”

   “No, of course not, but…” Kim rubbed her head, certain this was the point where she would cross over into the territory of sounding insane. “I think someone is going to die, Headmaster. I’ve thought it, and I’ve ignored it for some time… but I can’t ignore it anymore.”

   At this, Dumbledore’s brow creased into a frown. “This feeling,” he said, “could you describe it for me.”

   “I don’t know… it feels… terrible. Like that feeling you get when you hear something in your room at night, but you can’t see anything, and you know nothing should be there… but you can _feel_ it. You can feel something there, watching you from the darkness… It’s like that, all the time. In the pit of my stomach. It’s making me sick…” she said desperately, her eyes pleading with Dumbledore to take this burden away from her.

   “Have you ever had a vision come true before? Have you ever seen something that was confirmed to be real?”

   “Yes,” Kim said assuredly. “A few times. That first time I came to you about Harry being in Hogsmeade. Well, I interpreted that vision all wrong, but it turned out to be true. What I saw really did happen. And again over the summer…” she didn’t want to tell Dumbledore about the gambling on the quidditch game so she skipped over this detail. “And-” again she paused, looking sheepish and realizing how often her divination got her in trouble rather than the opposite. “I knew about the dragons,” she admitted. “At the end of last term I had a vision of Harry facing dragons, I just didn’t know it was real until I found out about the tournament…”

   Dumbledore gave her a small knowing smile for a moment before it faded to a much more serious, strained expression.

   “You must realize something,” he said. “The futures that you see are set in stone. The visions that you’ve had, the ones that are in fact visions of the future, cannot be undone. They cannot be changed. To attempt to do so, would be to toil away your life in constant turmoil.”

   Kim frowned, unable to understand, unable to accept… _I can’t do anything with it? I can see the future, but it can’t be changed?_

   “How is that… How can you be sure?”

   Dumbledore smiled ruefully. “It is the nature of divination. To know. Not to do.”

   “But that’s… that’s stupid! What’s the point of being able to see the future without being able to do anything about it! You’re telling me that it’s totally useless then… that everything I’ve gone through is completely for nothing!”

   “No, no… you misunderstand me. All I’ve said is that you cannot change the things you’ve seen. However, divination can be used as a method to bring you closer to the destination you seek.”

   “… I don’t understand.”

   “For example, you’ve been helping Harry with his challenges, yes?”

   Kim made a guilty face again, but nodded.

   “Had you never seen the vision of the dragons, you never would have found a way to show Harry what was to come. And perhaps Harry wouldn’t have been as prepared as he was. But you did have the vision, and you did tell it to Harry, and so your visions can be used as a clue, if you will. A compass, to guide you into the future.”

   “…but… if I never had the visions, wouldn’t I just follow the same path and end up in the same place anyway?” Kim pondered.

   Dumbledore smiled knowingly. “Would you?” Kim’s head hurt. “You merely need to worry about this; what you have seen is set in stone. All that can be done is attempt to make the before and after as desirable as possible, _but_ ,” he said sharply, “I don’t want you worrying on that matter in the case of the finial Triwizard challenge. I will see to it that all is taken care of. You’ve done enough to help Harry.” He smiled at her, and Kim smiled halfheartedly back.

   A knock on the door drew Dumbledore’s eyes away from her.

   “Come in,” he said, and in came Percy Weasley.

   “Percy,” Kim said with surprise.

   “Up to your usual trouble making,” he said to her briskly as he passed. Kim didn’t bother to correct him.

   “Excuse me Headmaster,” Percy said with a polite bob of his head, “but it seems there’s one finial matter we need attend before the third task, it’s involving ah-” he cut himself short and looked at Kim like she was an unfortunate stain on the rug.

   “It’s quite all right, Percy,” Dumbledore assured him. “She’s psychic, you know. She’s probably already had the details of this whole conversation worked out since last Sunday,” he said matter-o-factly. Kim had to fight back a smile as Percy’s eyes widened like the stain on the rug had grown legs and was creeping across the floor towards him.

   Kim’s smile grew peevish as she said quietly to him, “Don’t wear blue tomorrow.”

   He inhaled sharply, blinking with discomfort and turned back to Dumbledore, who was smiling quite mischievously now.

   “It’s about the admittance of a portkey onto Hogwarts grounds. I’ll just need you to sign here, stating that you approved this sanction, and then here stating that you will lower the wards allowing for this portkey specifically to be permitted on the grounds.”

   Dumbledore took the clipboard from Percy and picked up a quill from his desk. He signed in the places where Percy was pointing, and then handed it off to him.

   “Thank you Headmaster.” He then cleared his throat, not seeming to want to look Kim in the eye. “Kim,” he muttered as a goodbye, and left. Kim just let out a breathy laugh as he shut the door.

   “Why is there to be a portkey, Professor?” Kim asked curiously.

   “The cup is being turned into one. We thought it’d be rather anti-climactic to have the contestants reach the cup and then be forced to wait for someone to retrieve them from the maze to bring them to the front where the crowd is. Why, by the time they got there, the adrenaline of the whole ordeal would be worn off, I’d dare say.”

   Kim smiled in agreement.

   “So, the cup takes the winner to the front of the maze, where they can be properly showered in applause and adoration in a timely manner.”

   “So you lowered the wards for just the one… you can do that?”

   At this, Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. “I can do many things. Which reminds me.” He stood and moved to a cabinet that held a bowl of sorts, with shimmering blue and white light coming out of it. He pulled it from the cabinet on a sliding pedestal as he spoke. “I’ll be having to contact the Department of Mysteries about you.”

   Kim’s eyes widened.

   “They’ll be wanting to know about your aptitude, since it seems to me that your abilities in divination are quite… pronounced,” he said as he touched his wand to the side of his head and pulled from his temple a string of glistening thread, like unicorn hair, only even more luminescent. He dropped it into the bowl with others like it swimming around near the surface.

   “What are they going to want to know?” Kim asked apprehensively.

   Dumbledore pushed the bowl back into the cabinet. “What you’ve seen, probably. It’s hard to say. They’re quite secretive, but don’t fear. If you do well with them, it looks very good on a resume. I suspect because no one really knows precisely what they do… It’s likely they’ll come to call on you sometime next week. Don’t fret over it, Kim. Merely do as they ask.”

   Kim nodded, still feeling a bit nervous about the whole situation, but for at least the time being her stomach had momentarily calmed it’s roiling. Dumbledore looked at the clock on the wall as he returned to his desk.

   “Best be off to class now,” he said, and Kim realized she was already late. She hopped up with a start.

   “Oh! Yes. Thank you, Professor,” she said, heading for the door.

   “And Kim… if you see anything else pertaining to this topic, please let me know right away,” he said seriously.

   Kim nodded, her brow furrowed, and turned to leave out the door. She hurried off to class and apologized for being late, but she could hardly focus with all the thoughts that were spinning through her mind. What she had seen in her vision was undoubtedly going to happen. She couldn’t change it. She was going to be taken into the Department of Mysteries at some point for questioning. The third challenge was not going to be stopped simply because an undocumented diviner in her fourth year of school thought someone was going to die. She supposed she already knew that when she’d first gone to Dumbledore’s office. But then there was the last thought that branched off into a million others. _What do I do now? Just sit back and watch as Harry walks into the way of danger, and possibly dies?_

   She supposed her only solace was that she didn’t know for certain that Harry was going to die. But when she saw him next the same swirling feeling in her stomach was there, the fear and the emptiness mixing together until the absolute last thing she wanted to do was eat. She sat down across from him at the lunch table all the same. But there was something else, and now that she was sitting directly across from him she could feel it as strong as a draft of wind.

   “Harry,” Kim began, frowning at him in bewilderment and fear. With her eyes, she saw Harry. Black, messy hair. Bright, curious green eyes. Kind features, if not a bit guarded at times. Lanky and small boned body. He didn’t even look 14, really, but younger than that. Every sense told her _this is Harry,_ but still something inside her writhed. Strix dug her claws in a bit too tight on Kim’s shoulder.

   “What?” Harry finally asked, looking at Kim with confusion. But Kim didn’t know what to say. It was as if a dark shadow was seeping out of Harry and into Kim. Something about him _felt_ like someone else. Like a sickness, hiding in the shadows under his tired eyes. It was filled with malevolence that made Kim lean back in her seat, pressing her hands against the table as if in defense.

   “What’s wrong?” Harry asked, now seeming concerned.

   “You’ve gone white as a ghost,” Ron said, frowning at her too.

   And then it was gone, releasing her from its icy grip, evanescing into nothing. Her stomach settled back into its usual empty foreboding; uncomfortable but nothing quite as unsettling as what she’d just experienced.

   “N-nothing,” Kim managed to say, looking at anything but Harry. Strix darted off Kim’s shoulder then, making a flapping strike for Harry.

   “ _Ugh,_ sorry,” Kim answered automatically, knowing what was to come. She buried her head in her hands, not having the energy to reach after the bird. Harry apparently didn’t have the energy either because he simply held out an arm and scowled, blocking his face as Strix dove and pecked, pricking Harry’s arm with a droplet of blood.

   “There you are you bloodthirsty beast,” Harry growled as Strix flapped back over to Kim and landed, pleased with herself.

   “Sorry Harry,” Kim said again, but there wasn’t much effort in it. Right now, Strix was the least of her worries.

   “Bird’s a menace,” Ron remarked with a mouth full of food. “Should really have it looked at or something.”

   “For what, bird rabies?” Kim retorted. “She’s fine, she just doesn’t like Harry. I still hold out that he must just smell funny or something.”

   “Thanks,” Harry said sarcastically, wiping the blood off his arm. Kim shrugged, attempting to come across as apologetic but not sure she managed it. She couldn’t quite get a hold of her facial expressions because inside her head, she was debating whether or not to tell Harry about her vision.

_Of course you should tell him!_ one side of her said. _But what good is it going to do him, really?_ said the other. _He can’t do anything to stop it! That means that even if I went over to Cedric right now and told him I’d kill him if he didn’t drop out of the tournament, he wouldn’t… But what if I did kill him? That would stop him! So how is it possible that I can’t change the future? I can change it! I could change it right now if I just…_

_But I won’t,_ she realized. _I would never. I won’t kill Cedric, and evidently whatever I tell him or Harry’s not going to make a difference. I’m not going to kill Krum either, I just couldn’t… that must be what Dumbledore meant. The future I saw is what_ will _happen, because it’s the only option once you rule out all the things that can’t happen. Like me killing someone or convincing the contestants to all drop out._

_So that decides it then. I’m not going to tell Harry. It won’t prepare him for it, not in this case. It’ll just scare him… I’ve told Dumbledore, who already said he’s going to do everything he can to make sure nothing worse than what I saw happens. I just have to trust that he knows what he’s doing._

   After lunch Kim went to Magical Creatures of Intelligence class. When the class was over and everyone was beginning to file out, Professor Maddox asked Kim if she would see her at her desk. Kim approached apprehensively, though she hadn’t done anything wrong that she could think of.

   “Kim, I just wanted you to know, I greatly appreciate your participation in class. You always come very enthusiastic and ready to learn and that’s great,” Professor Maddox began, her long wispy brown hair swaying as she bobbed her head.

   “Oh,” Kim said with surprise, and smiled. “Thank you.”

   “Am I right in assuming that magical creatures are an interest of yours?”

   Kim nodded. “It’s why I transferred from America.”

   “Then I was right to choose you, certainly,” Maddox said with a pleased smile. “I have an internship that I’m setting up this summer, available to some of my students who show great interest and aptitude in the subject matter.”

   “An internship? Wow…”

   “That’s right. The students who go along will be with me for two weeks of the summer. We’ll be visiting an andasoe village in Wales. Most of our work will be on documenting and attempting to understand various aspects of their culture. It will be very structured, I’ll give you plenty of directives. But, you’ll also have plenty of free time to get to know some of the andasoes from the village. And you already know one so that’ll be good. Oh- but here I am speaking as if you’ve already agreed.”

   “I’ll already know one?” Kim asked. Her only real life encounter with an andasoe was in Professor Maddox’s class, earlier in the semester, when they had a guest speaker. Kim remembered the fixating gaze of Cane with a mixture of trepidation and wonder.

   “Yes, Cane, our visitor. The village we’ll be working with is his village.”

   Kim’s eyes widened slightly. “Wow. This sounds pretty great, I mean… yeah it sounds amazing. I just have to ask if it’s alright with my Mom, since usually I’d be visiting her over the summer,” Kim said, her tone dampening. She was excited by the prospect of getting to work with an andasoe camp, as well as getting to see Cane again, though she didn’t want to admit that was part of her excitement. But would her mother like the idea of Kim spending two whole weeks of her precious summer away from home? Especially since she hadn’t gone home for Christmas this year…

   “Of course. When you go home at the beginning of summer, ask your parents right away. Have them sign this permission form if they’re alright with it. And here’s the details of the internship, you should read over that before you decide as well. If you’re still interested by the end of the first week of summer, send an owl off to the address at the top of this page,” she said, handing Kim a stack of papers and pointing at a few things quickly as she spoke.

   “I will… Thanks, Professor,” Kim said, stuffing the papers into her bag, trying to protect them between books so they wouldn’t crinkle too much. “This sounds like a great opportunity.”

   “I’m glad you think so,” Maddox said with a smile, and then nodded to the door. “Have a good afternoon.

   “You too.”

   Kim left the class, excited and honestly flattered. Professor Maddox had chosen her specifically, even though for the second half of the semester Kim was most definitely not operating at her best, what with all the distractions she was entertaining. But none the less, Maddox had taken interest in her. The idea gave Kim a smug smile, as well as a rejuvenated excitement for the field of magical creatures.

* * *

   June 24th came sooner than Kim could have imagined. Her days were filled with end of term exams, and her nights with nightmares, and everything in between was mostly an uncomfortable blur of impeding terribleness; waiting, knowing but not doing.

   She ate breakfast with Clemon and Luna because her other friends hadn’t been in at the time she’d walked through the doors of the Great Hall. Not to mention being around Fred and George simply reminded her of how her and Fred were probably never going to be anything but friends, and it was because she’d done something stupid along the way somewhere she was sure. Being around Harry just made her feel like death was sitting on her shoulder.

   “I’m so nervous,” Cho said from across the table. She must’ve been talking about how Cedric would be competing that evening for the last time to try and win the cup. _You should be,_ Kim thought darkly, remembering what Cedric’s body looked like convulsing on the ground. To make matters worse, Cedric came over and sat down beside her, pecking her on the cheek. He gave Kim a polite look, which she tried to return, but it was difficult. When she met his gaze she could only see the image of the whites of his eyes rolling back in his head as the Cruciatus curse coursed through his limbs.

   Strix, who had insisted on taking perch on Kim’s shoulder this morning, took flight then. Kim instinctively looked around for Harry, thinking he must be near and Strix was off to peck at him as usual. But much to Kim’s surprise, she flew across the table and flapped about Cedric’s head this time. Kim just watched in bewilderment, too distracted to apologize for her pet’s behavior.

   “Hey,” Cedric said, batting at Strix and ducking. “ _Hey!_ ” As expected Strix landed a firm peck on Cedric’s arm, drawing blood. Kim was still staring in disbelief as Strix flew back to land on her arm.

   “You’re not going to do anything?” Cho said, sounding pretty upset.

   “Sorry,” Kim said, but her voice was coming through a misty haze of wonderment. She blinked and snapped herself out of it. “Sorry about that,” she said again. “She’s been… acting odd lately… I really should have her checked. She didn’t get you too badly did she?” Kim knew the answer. It was a small cut, but she was pretending to care for the sake of saving face.

   Cedric shook his head and pulled his sleeve back over the cut. “It’s fine,” he said.

   Kim stood then and left breakfast hastily, not wanting to add to her list of things to think about.

   At lunch, Kim saw two extra red heads at the Gryffindor table that were unmistakably Weasley and yet didn’t belong there.

   “Oi, Kim!” came George’s happy tone. He waved her over to sit between him and Fred who were sitting beside an older woman with the same colored hair. When she glanced over her shoulder at Kim as she sat down, Kim recognized her as the twin’s mother from when she had met her briefly on platform 9/3 at the beginning of that school year. It seemed ages ago now.

   “Oh, hello dear,” Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. Kim returned it and nodded. She was sitting beside a young man who was the other older brother who had also been on the platform, the one who _wasn’t_ Charlie. So that only left…

   “Is that Bill?” Kim whispered to George, who nodded.

   “Bill, you met Kim,” he said, gesturing to her. Kim waved a bit shyly. Bill waved back and looked like he was about to say something but Ron butt in. He was telling the story of the second task again, this time with at least partial realism.

   “What’s your family doing here?” she asked quietly to the twins.

   “Came to watch Harry tonight,” Fred said. “Family’s get to come watch, but since Harry doesn’t have any family…”

   Kim watched Harry, smiling and laughing at the presence of all the Weasley’s around him. She understood how he must feel. The Weasley’s had that effect on people, on surrounding a person and making them feel like they were somewhere they belonged. She could only imagine what that must mean for Harry, especially.  

   “Excuse me, Kim Shimmers?” came an unfamiliar voice, making Kim twist around in her seat and breaking her from her reverie. There was a man with a well groomed beard and dark hair standing beside the bench where Kim sat. He was looking severely down at Kim and wearing a deep purple, but otherwise plane, cloak.

   “Um… yeah?”

   The man gave a curt nod. “I need you to come with me then,” he said.

   “Uh…” Kim said, looking around at the man and behind him, trying to find some explanation for what was going on.

   “What’s this all about?” George asked, sounding indignant.

   “Who’s this bloke?” Fred asked.

   “Let’s go, Mrs. Shimmers,” said the man, and then Kim realized who he must be. The Department of Mysteries. She stood from the table.

   “Sorry guys. It was nice to meet you again,” Kim said awkwardly to Mrs. Weasley and Bill. They both looked back to smile pleasantly, which faded when they saw the nervous expression on Kim’s face and the odd exchange that was taking place beside the table. Kim was very aware of the appearance that she was being arrested or something. It felt exactly how it looked, even though she knew better.

   “Wait, Kim,” George muttered, sounding anxious, as Fred stood from the stable after her before she could leave.

   “What’s going on?” he demanded.

   “Erm…” Kim glanced at the man who was looking at her and Fred unreadably. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” She put her fingers against Fred’s shoulder as he tried to take a step closer, as if to apprehend the man who was beginning to turn away.

   “I’ll see you guys later,” Kim said to them both, holding her hands out to stop George from standing as he was about to. She turned and followed the man between the tables, catching Harry’s concerned gaze and hearing him call her name in question, but ignoring it. She hadn’t told anyone that the Department of Mysteries would be coming for her, because she hadn’t told anyone of the vision she’d had that’d sprung about the whole thing. She had been bearing it all on her chest for so long. As much as she was exasperated that they were taking her away from Hogwarts on the day of the third challenge, she was almost relieved at the same time. It was as if, for the first time in months, she felt absolved. Now all she had to worry about was herself.


	19. Green Eyes Alive

Chapter 19

Green Eyes Alive

   Kim followed the man in the purple robes out of the Great Hall and into an empty classroom. She looked around nervously, wondering why they were there. Without a word of explanation, the man drew out his wand and shot a blast of fire at the fireplace, setting it to a comfortable blaze. Kim approached, realizing they must be traveling by floo powder.

   “My name is Huxley Branderbon. Do you know why I’m here?”

   “You’re with the Department of Mysteries?”

   “That’s right,” he said, pulling out a bundle from his pocket and dipping his fingers into a small pouch. He withdrew his hand with glittering sand clutched between his fingers, sliding out and back into the bag as he spoke.

   “Do as I do,” he said firmly, handing the pouch to Kim and tossing the sand into the fire. He stepped into the now angry green flame and said, “Ministry of Magic.”

   The flames seemed to get even angrier and ate him up completely. Kim swallowed and did the same procedure, careful to speak evenly once she had stepped into the heatless fire. Moments later she was stumbling out of a new fireplace. She batted dust off her robes as she looked around at her surroundings.

   She was in a wide, clean hall with banners hanging from the tall ceilings, and witches and wizards coming and going all around.

   “This way, Miss,” said Mr. Branderbon, who was standing beside the fire she’d just emerged from. He turned on his heels and headed briskly down the wide hallway, Kim hurrying to stay close to him. Wizards as well as magical things busied the main entrance so thickly that Kim couldn’t pick out just one thing to look at. Mr. Branderbon led her into an elevator-like structure, and pressed a key on the wall as the door shut, standing a comfortable distance away from another wizard who was carrying a create with small slits in the side that kept excreting puffs of vaporous blue smoke. Kim eyed the man cautiously and he squirmed a bit, struggling with whatever was in the box as it threw itself about.

   But he got off before Mr. Branderbon did, leaving just the two of them in elevator. Soon they seemed to be very deep into the Ministry of Magic building. The elevator lurched and then moved forward before it finally slowed to a full stop, the doors opening. Kim followed Mr. Branderbon out of the small well lit space and into an eerie and much more dimly lit one. It was a long, silent hallway with black tiles surrounding her at all angles. Strix fluttered on her shoulder as Kim looked around nervously, seeing her own wobbly reflection in the black tile made visible by wavering blue flames that burned on torches along the walls.

   Mr. Branderbon led her to the end of the hall, which seemed to be tunneling them deeper into darkness, and to a single, black door. He held it open for Kim. On the other side was a wide, round room. There were multiple doors all around the circular edge of the room, each as black and non-descript as the last. There was one notable thing about them, however. None of them had handles.

   Mr. Branderbon shut the door behind them and came to stand beside Kim, clasping his hands before him as if he were waiting for something, though Kim wondered what. In response to her unspoken question, the room suddenly started to shift. The floor remained stable, much to Kim’s relief, but the doors along the round walls were spinning rapidly, too fast to see, like the whirlwind amusement ride at the muggle carnival. Mr. Branderbon seemed unconcerned, though, so Kim simply waited for the doors to stop spinning.

   He held up his wand, bending his arm at the elbow so his wand point was aimed strait up and said, “Mysterious Libraries.” A blast of shimmering blue light came slowly out of the end of his wand, pulsating up to the ceiling and becoming one with a round black stone in the center of the ceiling. It seemed to absorb the blue sparkling light for a moment, shimmering with it. And then, a door to Kim’s left swung open with a creek.

   “This way,” Mr. Branderbon said, walking towards the now open door. Kim followed him threw into a wide open room with walls lined in bookshelves. There was one which had shelves made of cubes of various sizes that divided the left portion of the room in half. The shelves were sporadically decorated with odds and ends that were _very_ odd indeed. Kim walked cautiously past a stone that hovered and glistened green in its stand of onyx. The shelf beside that contained a mundane looking vase of flowers that disintegrated into smoldering fireless ash before her eyes as she passed. The ashes tumbled down into the bottom of the vase, filling it halfway with slate dust. Next to the vase was a human skull, but Kim didn’t watch, afraid of what this might do if she stared at if for too long.

   “Please have a seat, Miss Simmers,” said Mr. Branderbon as he came to stand at the desk that was centered in the squared off section of the room between the cube shelves and the walls of book cases. Kim approached the desk and sat in the ornate wooden chair that was situated across from Mr. Branderbon. Her eyes kept wandering around, landing on the oddities in the shelves or on the titles of the books that lines the wall to her right. With titles like _Seeing the Unseeable_ and _Deep into the Abstract Existence of Magic,_ Kim would’ve loved to have some hours alone to thumb through their selection.

   “So, let’s begin with a bit of an introduction,” Mr. Branderbon said. “Here at the Department of Mysteries, we take great interest in prophecies, and in extension, in witches and wizards who possess the Sight. Normally, we work closely in tandem with just such wizards to keep our library of prophecies up to date, and as accurate as possible… Now, Dumbledore has informed us that you have made several true predictions. Is that true?”

   Kim nodded carefully. She felt Strix resituate on her shoulder and hoped desperately she didn’t decide to have a dislike for Mr. Branderbon and swoop from her shoulder to attack. Thankfully Strix remained grounded, at least for now.

   “What form do these predictions come?”

   “I… I see things. And feel things sometimes, which _leads_ me to see things.”

   “Visions,” Mr. Branderbon said, sounding impressed. “That is a rare gift.” He opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a file. He opened the folder and dipped his quill into his ink well.

   “Have you attempted to seek out these visions?” he asked Kim as he started to write something. “Spur them on in any way.”

   Kim hesitated, worried her truthful answer was the wrong one in this instance. “…Yes. I mediate and burn shrivelfig root and moly stems to induce a meditative state.”

   “That’s… that’s quite impressive. You may not realize it but the practice you’re following is called Hepto—

   “Heptomology, I know,” Kim said, nodding. “That’s where I learned to do it. Reading about it, I mean.”

   Mr. Branderbon raised his eyebrows and scribbled down something quickly. “Quite the developed witch… Tell me about one of the times you saw something that you know for certain came true.”

   Kim thought for a brief moment and went with the easiest to explain. “I saw Harry face a dragon at the end of last year. This year he faced a dragon in the Triwizard Tournament.”

   Mr. Branderbon nodded and continued writing for a long while this time. When he finally looked up he set the quill down and closed the folder.

   “Dumbledore was certainly right to call us. Let’s give you a quick test.”

   “A test?” Kim asked nervously as Mr. Branderbon got up from his seat.

   “Nothing to fear. This way, please.”

   Kim rose from her chair and followed Mr. Branderbon, but he didn’t take a right around the shelving to go back the way they’d come. Instead he continued down the line of books until they reached a break where there was an archway. They traveled down the attached hallway and went through a door at the end of the hall. The door led into a room that dramatically changed from the warm carpet and teal paint. It reminded Kim of the passage they had taken to get into the circular room in the first place with dark tile and flickering blue torches.

   This room was a square room, with very little in it. There was a seat in the center that was very low to the ground so that a person would have to crouch all the way to the floor to sit. A beam of cool light came down from the ceiling to encircle the round seat which seemed to be set in a square inlay of sorts that had small holes at the four corners of the square. Other than this seat, there was a couch in the corner of the room with a potted plant on either side of it.

   “Please sit in the center seat there,” Mr. Branderbon said, gesturing to the grounded seat. Kim moved to it as he walked briskly to the center of the room as well and flicked his wand at the ceiling. A trap door folded slowly open as Kim sat down, folding her legs before her as she stared up at the ceiling above. Something round and shimmering was lowering from the ceiling’s trap door, lowering into the cool beam of light that Kim was situated directly in the center of. As the light caught the sphere, Kim thought it looked like a beautiful three dimensional model of a planet with swirling blue waters and fading white clouds that whirled just under the glassy surface.

   “It’s a diviner’s pensieve,” Mr. Branderbon said, drawing Kim from her dazed staring. He had placed some familiar looking plats into the four bowl-like holes on all four corners around her. “We call it the Oracle here in the department.” He flicked his wand and sent four quick and small blasts of fire into the four corners around Kim, igniting the herbs and sending them smoking.

   “Just do what you would normally do when practicing Heptomology, Kim. I’ll be just over here,” he said, moving to the couch across the room, shrouded in shadow now that she sat in the light. It was all becoming bleary looking anyway, the scent of the herbs sharp and pungent in her nose already. She leaned back in the seat, which was made of some kind of very soft and yielding foam like fabric, allowing her to sink fully into it, enveloped by cushion. Strix hopped from Kim’s shoulder and landed on her knee where she could more easily sit without being pressed against the cushion. Kim’s eyes started to lull, and her head rolled back against the cushion. Looking up at the swirling blue and white of the Oracle Kim began to forget entirely where she was. Her eye lids fluttered as the room swirled and her eyes rolled back.

   Voices unfurled around her from the darkness. Memories, thoughts, and things that were both and neither at the same time. Kim couldn’t tell the difference from what was and was not, what had been and what would be. It all swirled around with the blue and white in her mind.

    _You’ll look stunning in whatever you choose to wear. Or choose not to… Fred and I are more than friends. Whatever that means… Family’s get to come watch, but since Harry doesn’t have any family… Look after Harry. If you can…_

   It was dark, and Kim was tied to something hard. She could make out small statues strewn in the grass around her, but it was hard to see much else through the fog and darkness. There was a man, short and cloaked standing a short distance before her, and beside him a very large caldron. Her head was searing with an odd pain that she’d never felt before, and yet, she was certain of what it meant somehow. Something terrible was coming.

   Steam billowed from the caldron and shrouded Kim’s vision farther. She didn’t move, petrified with fear and almost complete disbelief of what was happening. The foggy mist had covered everything in Kim’s sight, so that the only thing she could see was the murky outline of the caldron.

   But then, there was movement. A figure rose from out of the caldron’s depths, pale and angular frame with skin pulled tight over bone. The figure rose with its head bowed, as if someone drew it’s spine up on a cord, its arms unfolding from its chest to rest at its side as it came to stand at full height. Kim’s stomach writhed. Everything in her screamed to try and escape, but she couldn’t tell her body to move. She couldn’t yet make her mind believe what she was seeing.

   The figure’s head lifted just enough to make out flat snake-like features with slited nostrils and a menacing pair of lips that curled up on either end just slightly. Its eyes flicked open, boring into Kim’s mind, imprinting the image of their bloody scarlet gaze into the recesses of her brain forever.

   When Kim’s eyelids flew open, the Oracle was still hovering overhead soothingly, its colors swirling gently, but Kim found that she was screaming, the scraping sound of her voice raking through the silence.

   “Miss Shimmers, it’s all right,” came a man’s voice, and Kim realized where she was. She looked around and spotted Mr. Branderbon walking over to her with a look of alarm on his face. After a moment she realized it wasn’t just alarm he was showing; it was fear. It was as if he was looking not quite at her, but just past her with an expression of unknown trepidation.

   “You saw it?” Kim asked breathlessly. Mr. Branderbon pulled his gaze away from Kim’s person to look her in the eye, seeming to do so with some effort.

   “The vision? No… we can review them later, but not watch them as they occur.”

   “Don’t,” Kim gasped, barely able to speak. “It’s terrible…” That figure, those red eyes. She’d seen them before. She knew what it must mean now, but… she couldn’t bring herself to think it. Again she’d been viewing events through Harry’s eyes. _Harry._ She looked up at Mr. Branderbon with a resurrected sense of importance. “I have to get back to the castle.”

   He wasn’t looking Kim in the eye again, but simply looking cautiously _at_ her. Kim realized, a bit perplexed, that he was looking at Strix who was still perched on Kim’s knee.

   “Yes, that’s fine…” he said, like his mouth moved without first getting permission from his brain. He seemed to be absorbed in some other troublesome thought. “But first, I need to ask you a few questions.”

   “Questions? I don’t have time!” Kim insisted. She didn’t know how, but in her stomach she felt certain that what she saw was going to happen tonight, during the third task. The vision hadn’t had any frame of reference for time, other than it was dark. But it had all been leading up to this. She’d been feeling it for months, the building of tension in her stomach, and now it was about to explode out of her.

   “There’s something you must understand, Kim,” said Mr. Branderbon sternly. “Divination is an ability we guard very carefully here, especially when it’s as pronounced as yours.”

   “What does that mean?”

   “It means… that your full cooperation in working with us is greatly appreciated… and expected,” he added, and Kim thought there were notes of darkness in his tone. Was she being threatened?

   “What do I have to do?”

   “Simple. What we’ve just done today. Any time you have a vision, it is to be reported. You will work with us to further hone and understand your abilities via the Oracle.” Kim’s eyes darted all over the room, but she wasn’t seeing anything really. It was hard to think about anything other than the visions she had just seen.

   “We can discuss the details later,” Mr. Branderbon said, shaking his head lightly as if remembering himself. “Follow me please.” Kim stood and followed him out of the room, the Oracle receding back into the ceiling with a flick of his wand.

   “We will contact you again over the summer,” he said as they walked down the hallway and back into the library-office room.

   “I’m taking an internship this summer,” Kim said hastily without any real thought. It was hopefully true, but she didn’t know why it really mattered now. Somehow it had just been an automatic response.

   “Alright…” said Branderbon as they both sat in their respective spots. “We’ll contact you again at the start of the next school year. But in the meantime, please document any prophecies you make so you can report them to us when next we meet.”

   “Okay,” Kim agreed hastily. Then Mr. Branderbon fell silent for a moment, which was enough to drive Kim mad. She tapped her fingers hastily against her kneecap.

   “Kim… has anything odd ever happened with that bird?” he asked, his eyes hovering speculatively on Strix, perched on Kim’s shoulder. Kim’s eyes went wide for an instant before she could control her features. She looked at Strix. A thousand odd things had happened with this bird… but for some reason, Kim felt very much opposed to saying so. What if they wanted to take her away? Study her or stuff her and make her an ornament on their shelf?

   “No,” she said assuredly, looking back to Mr. Branderbon. “She’s just a pet.”

   He stared for an extra moment longer, but then took a steady breath and said, “Very well… inform us, were that to change…”

   “Sure…” Kim said, trying to sound as though she didn’t quite know what he was talking about. She comforted herself by the reminder that the only really strange thing to happen with Strix was involving one of Professor Trelawney’s episodes, and those were well known to be unreliable. But then again, what had made Mr. Branderbon ask such a question, if there was nothing out of the ordinary about Strix at all…

   “Can I go back to the castle now?” Kim pressed, her body still itching to fly out of the seat and back to Hogwarts. _I’ve got to get back to Harry. I’ve got to find Dumbledore and warn him about what’s happening. Something terrible… with Lord Voldemort…_ She didn’t want to think it was possible, but everything inside her seemed to know it was true. _He’s back…_

   “Yes, right this way,” Mr. Branderbon said, leading Kim from the office, through the round room, down the black tilled hall, and into the lift.

   “What time is it?” Kim asked as they were carried upward by the lift.

   “7:30.”

   “ _7:30_?” Kim exclaimed. How had it already gotten so late? How long had she been in her meditational trance? If it was already dark outside, how much time did she have before her vision came true? She hurried her pace forward as they made their way through the large entrance hall and moved towards the fire place. Mr. Branderbon drew out his pouch of floo powder and clenched a fist of the sand in his hand without yet drawing it out.

   “We’ll be making contact with you Miss Shimmers. Don’t forget, document your visions for us so you can report them back to me next we meet. Have a nice summer,” he said, tossing the floo powder into the fireplace and sending the flames into a rage of green. Kim stepped in, nodding to mister Branderbon, though she was seemingly incapable of a friendlier expression or words of goodbye.

   “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” she said in a steely tone and the flame flashed all around her, sucking her into the odd non-expanse behind the fireplace.

   Kim stepped out of the green flames and into the empty classroom again. She breathed for a moment, collecting herself and reassessing her surroundings. Outside the room, the hallways were deserted. She hurried toward the Great Hall to find that it too was empty.

   “The challenge must already be started,” Kim muttered, dashing for the front door and onto the lawn. The air carried cheers and the sounds of festive music over the field between Kim and the stands. She could see them well enough in the darkness to make out that they were full of people. She jogged across the field, mind whirling at what she needed to do. Harry was in great danger, but what could she do about it? Had it already happened yet? What if she was too late?

   She dashed up the wooden stairs and into the stands. No one noticed her. There were hundreds of people, and they were all watching the entrance of the maze where a band was performing and a gaggle of witches were twirling sticks using magic. Kim scanned over the bleachers for the golden clothed table where the judges sat and found it finally at the center of the stands to her left. She weaved through masses of people, hasty to just reach Dumbledore. He would understand. He would believe her. A hand on her shoulder stopped her rabid progress for the judges.

   “Hey,” Fred said a bit indignantly, like he had been speaking to her before but she hadn’t been listening. “Where did you go off to? Where have you been?”

   “I can’t explain all that now,” Kim said hastily to both the twins who were fully decked out in Gryffindor gear with painted HPs on their cheeks. “Did the contestants go in already?”

   “Yeah a while ago. You missed it.”

   “A while ago?” Kim said, panic putting little uncontrollable trills in her voice.

   “What’s the matter?” George asked.

   “I’ve got to speak to Dumbledore right away. Something terrible is about to happen.”

   “Haven’t you been saying that all semester?” Fred said, disbelieving. At this Kim shrugged off his hand that still rested on her shoulder.

   “ _Yes._ And it’s finally about to happen. Now!” She turned and hurried between cheering and flailing bodies. More than once she almost stumbled to the floor of the bleachers, and many times she had to push someone’s arm out of the way, or squeeze between tight groupings of students that clustered together. Finally she made it to Dumbledore who was watching the maze with a pointed gaze. When he caught sight of Kim he looked pleased to see her, but surly he saw the panic in her eyes. How did he manage to seem so calm?

   “Professor Dumbledore. Where’s Harry?”

   “Well, he’s in the maze I expect,” Dumbledore said.

   “You expect? You’re not certain?” Kim ridiculed.

   He looked a bit perturbed by this. “What’s this about, Kim? Is something the matter?”

   “Yes. I had a vision of Harry… and Voldemort. It wasn’t here, it was someplace I don’t recognize.”

   Dumbledore’s frown depend. “And you’re certain it was real? And it was tonight?”

   Kim faltered. She _was_ certain, but she didn’t know why. This was the problem with divination. It required a person to follow their gut instinct, but who was going to trust Kim’s gut other than herself? She had no proof. There was no real magical science behind it. It was merely how she felt.

   “Mostly,” Kim said, her eyes looking around Dumbledor’s head but not at him.

   “It’s not possible, my dear,” said a stout man beside Dumbledore. Kim didn’t recognize him from the previous challenges.

   “Like hell it is,” Kim blurted out, not sure why the filter on her mouth had stopped working. Was it this stranger’s completely uninformed claims that he knew something she didn’t, or was it how he called her _my dear_ as if she were a small child to be coaxed back into bed after a nightmare? The man looked utterly shocked, a more extreme reaction than Kim expected.

   Dumbledore cleared his throat lightly. “Kim, this is Cornelius Fudge. The Minister of Magic.” Kim’s eyes widened then too, realizing she had just swore at one of the most powerful men in Brittan.

   “I _assure_ you, the proper measures have been taken,” he said as if the implication otherwise was a personal offence.

   “I’m sure they have, but, Professor,” she said, looking pleadingly back at Dumbledore. But she need not say another word, because Dumbledore’s eyes had drifted past her and sharpened with intense alarm to such a point they daggered right through Kim’s chest. She twisted around to look at the entrance of the maze to see what had captured his gaze.

   There were two figures lying in the grass before the entrance with a glowing cup between them. Kim’s eyes widened, because even though the body was face down and crusted with blood and dirt, she recognized it.

   “ _Harry,_ ” she felt her lips move and the air press sharply out of her lungs, but she didn’t hear her voice. She couldn’t hear anything, really, except a high winning sound that seemed to be coming from inside her brain. She didn’t remember running down the stands either, merely blinking and finding herself trudging onto the field to cross the few steps of dew slicked grass that remained between her and her friend. She came to a lurching halt above the two bodies, her chest pounding and breath shuddering into her throat as she looked down at them. Neither were moving.

_I’ve failed. He’s dead…_ Her eyes found the eyes of the other body. The face she looked on belonged to Cedric, but his eyes were not his own. They were clouded and unfocused. They pulled Kim deep into their depths like a hand grabbing her and plunging her into an icy, grey lake. _They’re both dead…_

   “Harry!” cried Dumbledore who crouched down beside him, knees hitting the ground harder than she would’ve thought healthy for a man his age. Kim watched, vacant, detached. “ _Harry!”_ he said again, grasping his shoulders and flipping him over.

   And then his eye lids slid open. A small breath of air trickled into Kim’s lungs. Green, curious eyes that no longer shielded their tired sadness from sight flicked from Dumbledore’s face to Kim’s.

_He’s alive…_ That thought took a long time to loosen the vice grip that had tightened around her mind. In fact, even as Harry moved and grasped Dumbledore by the wrist, Kim still wasn’t certain it could be true.

   “He’s back,” Harry whispered. Kim could barely hear him. People were starting to swarm down from the bleachers, desperate to better assess what was happening with the two bodies on the field. “He’s back. Voldemort.”

   “What’s going on? What happened?” asked Fudge as he too came to stand above Harry, peering down. “My God, Diggory!” he breathed. “Dumbledore… He’s dead!”

   Kim could hear the crowds of people around her repeating this message, but she was too busy reeling with this second blow of shock to hear them. Was it really true? Harry had been dead, Kim had been sure of it, and yet there he was, green eyes alive _._ But then she remembered the grey foggy abyss she’d been dragged into and pressed her knuckles against her mouth, turning slightly so she wouldn’t be tempted to look again. She didn’t want to see it. Cedric was dead. Kim had been right, and yet uselessly wrong. The roiling feeling in her stomach was gone now. Now she just felt pitted. Empty. Like the prophecy she’d been bearing in her stomach had at long last been born from her, leaving her a gutted useless thing, with a stillborn prediction lying in the grass at her feet. She felt she might be sick.

   “Harry, let go of him,” she heard Fudge from behind her.

   “Harry, you can’t help him now,” said Dumbledore. “It’s over. Let go.”

   “He wanted me to bring him back,” Harry said, sounding lost. Sounding broken. Kim felt her heart wrench, and the pain was a crimson blossom in her gray hazed slumber. “He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…”

   “That’s right, Harry… just let go now…” Dumbledore said, and began to hoist Harry up off the ground to stand on his own two feet. Kim moved forward, away from the throng of watchers who were too petrified to draw nearer. She put her arm around Harry’s back and shouldered him as it became apparent he couldn’t quite stand. He seemed very small at the moment, ribs sliding bonily against Kim’s arm, their heads side by side as they were equal in height.

   “It’s all right Harry,” Kim muttered to him, determined to keep her face plane. She’d rather look grave than terrified. She was certain it’d be a waist to try for assuring. “It’s going to be all right.”

   Harry was just shaking his head lightly like he didn’t quite know where he was. He looked at Kim desperately. “I couldn’t… save him.” His voice wasn’t even a whisper. It carried to her ear on a wisp of breath.

   “No one could. It was already set in stone from the moment his name came out of that cup.” But she could tell he didn’t understand. Wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Not now. Not after what he had just seen.

   “I’ll take Harry, Dumbledore, I’ll take him—“ Moody was saying as he shuffled out of the crowd.

   “No, I would prefer—”

   “Dumbledore, Amos Diggory’s running… he’s coming over… Don’t you think you should tell him- before he sees?” Fudge said, drawing Dumbledore’s attention. Kim couldn’t move her head fast enough to follow all the conversation. The small field had now fully erupted into chaos.

   “Harry, stay here,” Dumbledore said, but his voice was half lost as he went after Fudge, and then Moody was right before Kim.

   “It’s all right, I’ll take him to the hospital wing,” Moody said, and though Kim didn’t want to leave Harry, she couldn’t argue that she was starting to struggle with his weight. He seemed to be lulling in and out of coherence, and when he leaned on Kim fully she staggered. Harry muttered something unhearable as Moody accepted his weight, hoisting him more properly upright.

   “You need to lie down, Potter. Come on now, I’ll take you,” Moody said as he started to guide Harry through the panicking crowd. It was probably better. People were avoiding Moody quite hastily, dodging out of his path. Kim would’ve had to fight tooth and nail to make it an inch through this swath of sobbing students.

   Kim now turned to face the morbid view that had been hiding behind her turned back. Cedric lie on the ground. His father was sobbing on his knees beside him, his face buried in his hands. Cho was standing nearby, but separate from the circle of officials and teachers around Cedric. She had silent tears spilling down her face. As Kim stepped closer to the circle, she caught Cho’s eyes.

   “I’m so sorry,” Kim said. Cho didn’t answer. She choked and covered her face in her hand, turning away slightly as her expression broke into a sob. Kim felt Strix shift on her shoulder, and a sudden realization struck her in the spine. Her eyes drifted to the sliver of Cedric’s body that she could see between robes and legs. Hadn’t Strix attacked Cedric this morning? That hadn’t been the first person that she’d attacked soon before they died… Mrs. Baker over the summer…

   Kim shook her head. Certainly she was connecting things with invisible threads now, making things that were stretched far apart in reality seem closely related. This was merely exhaustion. A natural reaction to the maddening events of the night. She couldn’t think about that now, anyway. She had current pressing matters on her mind.

   “Dumbledore,” Kim said to him, making him turn his head to look at her, pulling him from his dealings with Cedric’s father and the other officials and teachers. “It’s happened. What I saw happened tonight. Somehow, Harry was taken away from the tournament. It has to be true, you see?”

   Dumbledore’s stern gaze fell on the cup, eyes searching it’s surface like it would reveal a secret. Then his eyes narrowed, and shifted back to Kim.

   “Where’s Harry?” he asked urgently.

   “Moody took him to the castle to…” but she didn’t finish her sentence because Dumbledor’s features had gone frighteningly stern. He turned to Professor McGonagall across the circle of people.

   “Get Snape. Quickly,” he said, and McGonagall, who seemed shaken and just as bothered as anyone else, bolstered herself and gained an air of pointed focus as she went off to find Snape.

   “What is it?” Kim asked.

   “The cup was a portkey, authorized, yes… but if someone were to say, add another destination to the portkey, I would not have been alerted. The wards against unauthorized portkeys would’ve remained intact…”

   Kim realized what he was saying as her mind chewed over the words. Someone had altered the portkey to bring Harry to an outside destination. Because the Triwizard trophy portkey was already allotted for in order to bring the winner to the front of the maze, this new portkey within a portkey, of sorts, went unnoticed.

   “So… who could’ve tampered with it? Who was in charge of the spell and it’s placement?”

   “Alastor Moody.”

   Kim’s eyes widened with fear as Professor McGonagall returned with Snape on her heels.

   “Harry,” Kim breathed, realizing the danger she had put him in. Yet again.

   “Follow me, I’ll explain on the way,” Dumbledore said to the teachers, and started off toward the edge of the crowd that was already parting for him. Kim darted off after him.

   “I’m coming too,” she insisted.

   “You have not been asked for your help, Miss Shimmers. I suggest you keep your nose where it belongs,” Snape sneered down at her. Kim gave him a dark look, one that said _try and stop me then_ as best she could without actually speaking the words.

   “It’s quite alright Snape,” Dumbledore said. “As it turns out, it is thanks to Miss Shimmer’s quick thinking, and her undying desire to assist her friends, that we may yet be in time to save Harry.” This praise was caveated with far to grave a message for Kim to be smug about it.

   “What’s happening to Potter now?” McGonagall asked.

   “I believe Kim and I have solved the question of who put his name in the Goblet of Fire.”

   “Well, _who?_ ” said McGonagall agitatedly.

   “It was Alastor. And yet, I’m certain it wasn’t him,” Dumbledore muttered. They were making their way through the castle now. They were almost to Professor Moody’s office.

   “How can that be?” McGonagall said.

   “The only thing that _could_ be. Professor Moody is an imposter.” But he had no more time to explain because they had reached the door to Moody’s office. He held up his hand to keep the group silent as he put his ear to the door for a very brief moment before he thrust out his wand, something Kim had never seen him do, and thought she never would, and uttered, “ _Stupify!”_

   Kim jumped as a blast of brilliant light erupted from the end of Dumbledor’s wand and the door burst apart into splinters that blew back into the room beyond. Blinking, eyes readjusting to normal light as the teachers filed past her, she saw that Harry was within, and also someone lying on the ground. She peered nervously around the corner to see Dumbledor roll over the body on the floor with his foot. Moody lie there, unconscious.

_So that’s why they call him the greatest wizard that ever lived. That was one powerful stupify spell._

   “No,” Dumbledore said sharply to McGonagall, who was attempting to gather up Harry from the chair he was seated in. Kim couldn’t help herself in feeling almost afraid of this new, unfathomably powerful Dumbledore.

   “Dumbledore, he ought to…” McGonagall said, looking down at Harry. “Look at him, he’s been through enough tonight—”

   “He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand,” Dumbledore said curtly. “Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why.”

   “Moody,” Harry said, looking a bit dazed. Kim wondered how he figured that out, or had Moody told him? “How can it have been Moody?”

   “This is not Alastor Moody. You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. That, coupled with the fact that it was _he_ who placed the cup at the end of the maze, and only he who could have altered its destination has left me quite sure.”

   Dumbledore reached down and retrieved Moody’s flask and a set of keys from his robes. “Severus,” he said, “please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess. Minerva, kindly go down to the kitchens and bring up the house elf called Winky.” The two of them nodded and swooped from the room as Dumbledore turned his attention to Kim. “Kim, I need ask you a favor as well.”

   Kim nodded and said, “What is it?”

   “I need you to go down to Hagrid’s house were you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. I think you will find this dog to be very familiar to you… Take him up to my office and wait for me there. The password is Cokroach Cluster.”

   Kim nodded and left the room, though she was feeling a bit out of sorts about everything. Wasn’t this an odd request? She could hardly feel effected by the oddness of it because she was so absorbed in the whirlwind of everything else. _A dog that I recognize… Does he mean Fang?_

   But upon arriving at the pumpkin patch, Kim realized exactly who Dumbledore had meant.

   “Sirius?” Kim whispered, coming up to the patiently sitting dog. He gave a sharp raise of his head, like a nod, and stood. “Follow me. Dumbledore wants us to wait in his office.” She led him through the castle, catching a few odd looks along the way, and spoke the password to the gargoyle. Once in Dumbledore’s office where Fawkes sat on his wooden perch, Sirius transformed into himself.

   “What’s happened to Harry?” he asked immediately.

   “He’s all right. Well… he’s alive… I’m sorry, I tried to-…” But Kim couldn’t finish that sentence.

   “Please, it’s quite all right… It was probably a bit unfair of me to place such a heavy burden on you...”

   “I tried…” Kim couldn’t look at Sirius. Again she felt her head swimming with uselessness. What good was she? What good was her ability to sense the future if she never seemed to be able to change it?

   “I’m just glad Harry’s all right,” Sirius said, though she could see he was only saying so for her sake. He knew something terrible had happened tonight. It was clear in the tightness of his eyes and how he rested his hands against his lower back, as if only that was keeping him propped upright against the weight of the stress.

   It was a long while before the doors to Dumbledor’s office finally pushed open again. The moment Harry was passing through the doorway, Sirius was walking to him, the full force of the concern he’d been holding this whole time flooding to his features.

   “Harry, are you all right? I knew it, I knew something like this- what happened?” He helped Harry down into a chair. “What happened?” he asked again, urgently.

   Dumbledore then explained everything that Kim had missed. The man they had thought to be Professor Moody all year had really been Barty Crouch Jr., a man who had long since been thought dead, using polyjucie potion to disguise himself. He had escaped from Azkaban years ago, with the help of his father, and had been held captive by him ever since. But in the past year, Crouch Jr. had escaped his father once, at the Quidditch World Cup, and had been responsible for the summoning of the dark mark there. He had then been rescued by Voldemort himself, who had enlisted his help in attempting to capture Harry. It was Crouch Jr.’s job to insure that Harry was a participant in the Triwizard Tournament. It was his job to insure that Harry made it through to touch the cup at the end of the third task. Crouch Sr. had also been under the control of Lord Voldemort, via the Imperius curse. That explained why Harry had run into Crouch, half mad and babbling nonsense; he had been fighting off the curse. That is, until Moody had come to the scene, and killed him. Not really Moody though, fake Moody, Barty Crouch Jr. Moody.

   Kim’s head whirled with the complexity of the situation. Her foresight had evidently only skimmed the surface, and just barley so. They all then turned to Harry for an explanation of what had happened to him during the time he was taken elsewhere. Kim wished she had seen the whole thing so she could explain it for him. But again, her knowledge seemed to only just skim the surface.

   Cedric had been killed immediately after arriving at the cemetery. He was never meant to be there in the first place, and they had no use for him. Voldemort had needed Harry’s blood for some kind of dark magic which had brought him back in his full form. That was the scene that Kim had witnessed; a boney, red eyed figure rising from a cauldron shrouded in mist. Then he called his remaining Death Eater’s to him. Malfoy’s father had been there, but Snape was not. Kim could tell though, by the way he spoke about it, that Harry was still suspicious of him.

   Voldemort had planned to kill Harry this night, but their wands had reacted oddly to one another when they cast a spell at each other. Priori Incantatem, Dumbledore said it was called, and was caused by the brother phoenix feathers at the core of both Harry and Voldemort’s wands. It caused the ghosts of Voldemort’s past spells to come from the wand, a kind of memory imprint. Harry’s parents were two of just such conjurations, and with their help, Voldemort was distracted for long enough for Harry to get back to the port key.

   Kim had thought her vision was the worst of it; Voldemort had risen again. But the ordeal Harry had suffered went much deeper than that, it seemed. By the end of his recount, he was very tired looking, and his voice was wavering as if on the edge of tears.

   “I have one last question for you Harry,” Dumbledore said, sounding tired himself. “It is but a small matter. While you were within the maze, did Krum attempt to use the Cruciatus Curse?”

   Harry frowned slightly. “Yeah. He used it on Cedric before we got to the cup.”

   “And what followed him using the curse?”

   Harry’s frown depend with confusion. “I think I stupefied him… Yeah, he was leaving the scene, but I stupefied him before he could get away. Why do you ask?”

   Dumbledore cleared his throat quietly and turned his gaze on Kim. “Kim, do you recall the warning of danger you gave me a week ago?”

   Of course she did, though it had evidently done nothing. She nodded.

   “I put in place a precaution, in the event that your vision came true, which it unsurprisingly has. The wand of any of the champions would burn very hot if they used that specific curse. So hot, that no one would be able to resist the urge to toss it aside, rendering them defenseless… However, as it seems that Krum did not do this, I can come to only one conclusion… He was under the Imperius Curse.”

   Kim looked surprised, though she supposed that explained everything perfectly. She was glad that she hadn’t done anything rash before the tournament, like try and kidnap Krum or do something to keep him from entering the last challenge. Any harm she did to him would have been completely unjustified… She remembered something Dumbledore had said before. _We cannot prosecute someone based on actions that they haven’t yet done._ At the time it had felt like a statement of limitations, but now Kim saw the merit in it. Divination was a flexible study… Things were simply not always as they seemed.

   “Well, I think that precludes business here,” Dumbledore said. “Harry, you will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A sleeping potion, and some peace…Sirius, would you like to stay with him?”

   Sirius nodded as they all stood. He transformed back into the large shaggy dog.

   “Kim, I think you would do best to try and get some sleep too,” he said, and she nodded. She followed them out of Dumbledore’s office at which point she gave Harry a worried glance.

   “I’ll see you tomorrow Harry… try and…” but what was she to say? Her jaw tightened until finally she threw her arms around Harry and hugged him tight. He didn’t say anything, only put his arms around her and stood for a moment. Kim had a hard time fighting off the feeling that the moment he was out of her sight he would be wondering back into grave danger. _He’ll be fine… the danger is over… and Sirius’ll be with him._

   She released him and gave him a grimace, trying to be supportive or kind or just something positive. He nodded at her, unable to even manage a grimace himself, and followed Dumbledore down the hall with Sirius as a dog trotting along beside him.


	20. Stowaway Book

Chapter 20

Stowaway Book

   Kim lay out in the grass, watching the abraxans graze in the field beside the Beauxbaton carriage. It was the day before everyone would depart for home, and the previous week had been so somber Kim was actually looking forward to leaving. But then, that was a very mixed feeling as well. She just needed some relief from this constant state of dreary sadness that had befallen herself and all of Hogwarts. She wanted to feel close to someone, she _needed_ that. Harry was quite at best, and vacant at other times. Ron and Hermione tried to keep everything neutral by avoiding anything that could remotely be related to Lord Voldemort or the Triwizard Tournament, which made conversations short and awkward. Clemon had been avoiding Kim ever since she told her that Voldemort _was_ back, despite whatever the Daily Prophet had to say, or had _not said_ on the matter. Luna was great, but… she was her spacy self, and that could only do so much for Kim in these times. And that left Fred and George.

_What am I going to do about Fred and George?_ With everything that had happened, the three of them had managed to settle into a fairly normal pattern of friendship. Things were almost like they had been once, but there was one key difference. Kim _felt_ different. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t seem to let go of the hope that Fred would come around eventually. That he would touch her like he once had, that he would treat her special. Even if their friendship looked normal on the outside, she worried, on the inside, it would never go back to how it’d once been.

   As Kim churned over these thoughts, two bodies slid down to the grass on either side of her.

   “Guess what we just found out?” George said.

   “What?”

   “We know why Bagman won’t give us our money.”

   “You’re getting ahead of yourself, George," said Fred, "she doesn’t even know what he’s done last.”

   “What? What happened?” Kim asked attentively. Last she’d heard they’d been increasing the threateningness of their correspondence with him, escalating all the way to blackmail. _Not more trouble,_ she pleaded silently, _that’s the last thing I need right now._

   “First he told us we were too young to be gambling,” Fred said.

   “Funny thing for him to say, since he’s the one who asked us in the first place,” George added bitterly.

“Exactly what I’m thinking,” Kim exclaimed. “Where’s he get off telling you you’re too young when he took your damn money in the first place.”

   “Well, then he outright refused to give us the money we’d won,” Fred said. “So we asked if he’d give us our original money down back.”

   “And?” Kim asked hopefully. Certainly this small request could be met…

   “He was a bit loony at this point, mind you,” George said.

   “He told us to shove off is the sum of it,” Fred said, the hostility in his voice scraping away at the light hearted posterior he’d been trying to maintain. He leaned a bit forcefully back against the grassy hill, picking a blade of grass and shredding it.

   “I can’t believe it…” Kim said, looking away from him and off at nothing.

   “Believe it. It’s over…” Fred huffed.

   “But…” She looked down at the grass between her legs. She couldn’t stand to let this go. This was very much her fault, though she had never intended any of this to happen. Why couldn’t she have had a vision of _this_ outcome, telling her not to say a thing to Fred and George at all about the Quidditch World Cup? “I feel terrible,” she muttered.

   “’S not your fault, Kim,” George said, looking at her meaningfully. Kim wanted to believe him, but she still felt responsible.

   “Nothing anyone could’ve done,” said Fred. “Turns out he owes loads of money to the goblins. Lee told us his dad’s had the same kind of troubles with him, dodging him every time he asks to get payed back. Man’s got a gambling problem.”

   “So much for our joke shop…”

   Kim couldn’t stand it. She frowned, looking to either side of her where both boys were laid out in the grass.

   “No!” she said, shifting around to her knees so she could face them both. “Don’t think like that! It’s not over. Maybe you can’t get your money from Bagman, but you can’t give up!”

   “That was all our money, Kim,” George said.

   “We’d have to start from scratch,” Fred added.

   “…Okay? So, start from scratch then! You did it once, you can do it again. Besides, you’ve got the rest of your lives to get it together. So this is a minor setback. So what?”

   Fred let out a huff of air and a small smile crept across his face. He folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the clouds above. George was smiling wryly at her before he tilted his head to look at Fred.

“She’s right, you know Fred,” he said.

   Fred’s smile crept farther up the edges of this mouth. He looked down at Kim slyly from half closed eyes.

   “Yeah, I know she is,” he said, and the fondness in his voice lit a fire in her heart. For the past week she’d suffered through the kind of internal coldness no amount of sunshine seemed to amend, and just now she felt the kindling warmth in her that had been dormant.

   The next day Kim sat on the train with Fred and George, making their way back to the station in London. She couldn’t help the pit in her stomach that came with goodbyes, only this was even worse than any time before. She wanted desperatly to speak with Fred alone, to remind him of their agreement that she would give him time if he would promise to write to her over the summer. It was getting the nerve up to form the words that was proving impossible. The Yule Ball now seemed like a melena away, and she felt stupider and stupider for having ever thought there was something between them.

   As she was contemplating various ways to get Fred alone, all of which were complete garbage, she spotted Malfoy and his posse passing her cabin. Kim made an involuntary sound of disgust.

   “He’s probably off to bother Harry, the little shit,” Kim said sharply. “As usual… Harry’s been through enough, you know. I can’t stand that Malfoy’s still going at him after everything, I mean how can you have not a single shred of humanity?”

   “What do you say we follow him then?” Fred asked mischievously, peering down the aisle after Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

   “Follow him?”

   “Yeah,” Fred said. “See where he’s going… Make sure he’s not up to anything.”

   “Do we get to hex him if we catch him doing something?” Kim asked with a smirk.

   Fred and George lit up at one another. “Definitely,” they said together, making Kim giggle. The three of them hoisted themselves up from their seats and followed at a short distance from Malfoy. Sure enough, it was only moments later that he was stopped before Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s door, butting his greasy head in to talk to them. As they got closer they could hear what he was saying.

   “…day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!” He was talking to Harry, jerking his head at Ron and Hermione. “Too late now, Potter! They’ll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord’s back.”

   “Why you little,” Kim muttered squirming to get between the twins so she could wring his pasty white neck.

   “Easy,” Fred said, holding firm so she couldn’t worm past.

  “We got it,” George added, and they both drew their wands.

“Mudbloods and Muggle-lover’s first!” Malfoy said. “Well- second- Diggory was f—”

   But he didn’t get to finish because Fred and George had blasted him with a charm that had far more miniature explosions of light then Kim thought normal. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle tumbled to the compartment floor in a cumbersome heap, unconscious. Kim realized as she peered into the compartment that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all shot off spells of their own, causing the three Slytherins to be hit by quite a cocktail.

   “Thought we’d see what those three were up to,” said Fred Matter-of-factly as he planted a foot on Goyle’s chest and stepped into the compartment as carelessly as if the boy were a door mat.

   “Interesting effects,” said George, examining their handiwork. “Who used the Furnunculus Curse?”

   “Me,” said Harry.

   “Odd,” said George lightly. “I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn’t be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let’s not leave them here, they don’t add much to the décor.”

   Kim snickered at George and helped him and the others roll the ugly lot until they were entirely in the isle so Kim and the rest could all stand within the compartment and shut it behind them. They took a seat, and Fred pulled out a deck of cards, offering to play Exploding Snap. The six of them played for a long while before Harry sneaked in an ask about what Fred and George had been blackmailing for. The twins finally, after much pestering from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, relented and explained everything about their bet with Bagmen, the fake gold, and the man’s unwillingness to pay what he owed.

   “But that was all your savings!” Ron exclaimed when they’d finished.

   “Tell me about it,” said George. “’Course, I ‘spous it’s what we had coming.”

   “Why do you say that?” Hermione asked.

   “Oh, well, we bet on a bit of a rigged match, if you will,” he said, not that it explained anything for the others.

   “You sayin’ Krum lost on purpose?” Ron asked. “Caught the snitch before they had enough points to win?”

   “Not unless Kim’s been doing some favors for the Hungarian quidditch team,” Fred said, shooting her a devious look with flicking brows and a bob of his head, much to her embarrassment. He and George both smiled wide at the joke and made a knowing sound, “He-heeyy,” as a sort of jeer. Kim just rolled her eyes as the rest of the group looked at her with surprise. Ron almost looked impressed, as if he believed it.

   “Oh please- no,” she said to Ron. “The game wasn’t fixed, I just saw the outcome before it happened… well, I wasn’t entirely sure at the time, but I was pretty sure.”

   “Well blimey!” said Ron, still impressed, to Kim’s pleasure. “No wonder he won’t give you the money!”

   “It’s not like _he_ knows that.”

   “I maintain that since we didn’t know for certain if Kim was right or not, it was still a fair bet. Going off a hunch, is all,” Fred reasoned, making Harry chuckle and shake his head.

   “Really is sore luck, though…” Harry said, almost crest fallen. The twins both shrugged, seeming like their care free selves again. Kim knew that their demeanor, at least in regards to this topic, didn’t come quite as effortlessly as they made it seem, but she was glad all the same they were able to make light of it now.

   It wasn’t long after that when the train pulled into the station. It was time to go. Time to say goodbye for the summer, and Kim’s nerves were making her hands jitter.

   “Wait a moment,” Harry said, stopping Fred and George from leaving the cabin after Hermione and Ron already had. Kim stood behind them, watching intently as Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out a sack of something heavy. As he thrust it at Fred and George with a light jingle, Kim realized it was his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament.

   “Take it,” he said, letting go of the sack once it was in George’s hands so they couldn’t thrust it back at him.

   “What?” said Fred, looking flabbergasted.

   “Take it,” Harry repeated. “I don’t want it.”

   “You’re mental,” said George, trying to hand it back.

   “No, I’m not. You take it, and get inventing. It’s for the joke shop.”

   “He _is_ mental,” Fred said in an almost awed voice.

“Listen,” said Harry sternly. “If you don’t take it, I’m throwing it down the drain. I don’t want it and I don’t need it. But I could do with a laugh. We could all do with a few laughs. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to need them more than usual before long.”

   Kim’s features softened into a warm smile, feeling that internal kindling that was the single thing that could warm a person in such dark times. Harry’s eyes fell on hers for a moment and there seemed to be an understanding between them. Kim knew why he was giving away this money, and it was sad and lovely at the same time. Harry knew she understood and would make sure they kept the money, didn’t try to give it back to him somehow later on.

   “Harry,” said George weakly, weighing the money sack in his hands, “there’s got to be a thousand Gallions in here.”

   “Yeah,” said Harry, drawing his eyes from Kim and grinning. “Think how many Canary Creams that is… Just, uh, don’t tell your mum where you got it… although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…”

   “Harry,” Fred said deeply, like he was about to protest more, but Harry drew out his wand.

   “Look,” he said flatly, “take it, or I’ll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they’re from you.” He then turned on his heels and left the compartment. Fred and George stood there, dumfounded and speechless as Kim grinned, looking back and forth between the two of them.

   “Now boys,” Kim said as if lecturing them, speaking before they had a chance to wrap their heads around what had just happened, “you’ve heard the expression about the gift horse, haven’t you? Or do you not have that one over here?”

   “I can’t believe it…” George murmured, ignoring Kim. He raised up the money sack and stared at it. A wide grin crossed his face as he and Fred looked at each other.

   “Well George,” Fred said, unable to stifle the wild smile as well. “It would seem…”

   “Oh yes it would,” George muttered, and then they both spoke at the same time.

   “We’re back in business!”

   Kim laughed with joy, urging them to put the money in their trunk so they could hurry up and get off the train. Ron and Hermione were saying goodbye to Harry when they stepped onto the platform.

   “Harry- thanks,” George said as Fred nodded fervently. Harry smiled and winked at them before turning to follow his uncle through the station.

   “Take care Harry!” Kim called after him. “And don’t forget to write me!” He looked over his shoulder and gave her a wave. She then turned back to face Fred and George. The time for goodbye had finally come. There was no one waiting for Kim, she had to make another stop at her Aunt’s before she would be back home. But Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the family were beginning to gather themselves and prepare to head off.

   “Well… I guess I’ll see you both next year then,” Kim muttered awkwardly.

   “Take care this summer,” George said, nodding. Fred looked like he was about to say goodbye too, but Kim wasn’t ready for that yet.

   “Uh!” she interrupted, though she hadn’t the slightest idea what she was going to say. “Just… before you go I wanted to…” she looked all around Fred and glanced at George frantically. Realization seemed to dawn on him, at first a bit tightly, like he had stumbled upon a dead rat in the basement and now had to step over it. He held up his hands in retreat and backed away. Fred looked after him, now understanding the situation as well, and seeming for a moment like George was his life boat, drifting away into the sea. He then forfeited to the ocean waves and looked back to Kim, face steady.

   “Sorry, I-…”

   “It’s okay,” he said, surprisingly gentle. Kim swallowed hard.

   “I’m going to miss you,” she managed to say, looking up fearfully to see his reaction. He was just staring at her, his eyes jumping back and forth between one of her eyes and the other. The silence was painful, a question mark shaped brand burning hot into her brain. Fred was looking more and more like that person in the ocean without a life raft, drowning, fishing for words.

   “It’s okay,” she said, wanting to ease his apparent suffering, and her own. “I know you’re… not sure… about me. I just… I want you to know I’m still sure about you.” She was actually astonished the words had come out sounding so certain. She _was_ certain. But how her mouth had managed to form the words while her teeth were wound tight, trying not to chatter was beyond her.

   “I-… I just need… time,” Fred said, but he didn’t sound sure at all. His eyes were wide and searching.

   “I know. Just remember our agreement. Please.”

   Fred nodded, looking a bit more relaxed, though only marginally. “Sure,” he said. “Sure, I’ll write to you.” He cleared his throat roughly. “I’ll see you after break, Kim.”

   Kim nodded, giving a somber smile. “See you.” She looked past Fred as he started to turn, aiming for the rest of his family. She raised a hand at George who waved back, then moved her gaze to Ron and Hermione, who also gave her smiles and waves goodbye. Then she turned, making her way out of the train station and towards the street.

   There was a wizard’s cab waiting for her at the exit. Kim struggled to load the trunk with all her things. Strix flapped madly in her cage until Kim finally gave in and let her out to come and perch on Kim's shoulder, waiting patiently for her to finish loading the trunk. As she hoisted her trunk into the space it slipped, knocking her bag onto the ground that had rested on top of it. Some of the contents of her bag spilled out, making Kim grumble and crouch to shove everything back in. Her robes from when she’d changed on the train, a shiny rock she’d found on Hogwart’s grounds and had retrieved as a gift for her mother to add to her rock collection, and a book. She frowned at the book, pausing as the wind swiftly flipped through the pages until it snagged and paused on one. The book was _Creatures that Don’t Exist,_ and it didn’t belong to her but to the school. It must’ve been on a pile of other books she’d stuffed into her bag hastily and made it in without her notice. She had only ever skimmed half the book, despite Luna’s insistence that it was a terrific read.

   Now Kim found herself slapping her hand against the page as the book lie against the asphalt to stop the wind from flipping the page again. There, staring up at her was the image of a very disturbing looking owl. It was small and round with crimson feathers. It had a long, slender beak of gold and four black legs with hooked claws. The title to the page was; _The Strix._

   Kim’s frown deepened as she picked up the book and stood slowly, her hair catching the wind and wiping about her face. She read the passage below the title.

_The Strix is an ill omen, signifying that death is near. It takes the form similar to that of an ordinary screech owl, though it has four legs and a golden beak. The Strix feeds on human blood, preferring the blood of infants, their main source of nutrition. Its cry can stop the heart of a full grown man when heard, and if seen, it is best avoided. The Strix is known to mark its victims, and in divination, the mark of The Strix (signified by a sighting or worse, drawing of blood) is the worst of death omens._

_The Strix she sits aside the harbinger_

_She bears neither egg nor fruit._

_Abandon your cause upon the sight of her,_

_For the point will soon be moot._

   Kim swallowed hard. She recognized the lyrics centered on the opposite page. It was over a year ago now, but she was almost certain it was the same rhyme Professor Trelawney had recited to her when she’d brought Strix to divinations class, something Kim had made a point never to do again.

   Her eyes drifted from the page, flapping fiercely in the wind against her thumb that held it down, and landed slowly on Strix, perched atop her shoulder. She fluffed up in the brisk wind, hunching close to Kim.

   “What are you?” Kim breathed. Strix swiveled her head around in that unnatural looking manor that owls could, eyes locking with Kim’s, making her freeze with a mixture of awe and fear. Strix tilted her head to the side just slightly, as if she’d understood Kim’s words, but not the reason for the question. A shudder ran down Kim’s spine. A thought trickled into her mind that she had been subconsciously ignoring for a week now.

_Strix has only ever drawn blood from three people in the two years I’ve owned her… the mark of The Strix (signified by a sighting or worse, drawing of blood) is the worst of death omens… One of those people was Mrs. Baker who died soon after… The other was Cedric Diggory, who died later that day… The last is Harry Potter…_

 

The End

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK FOR SEQUEL: First of all, thanks for reading! The sequel to this story which will take place during the time of Order of the Phoenix will be posted on a weekly basis as usual. So, if you're dying to find out what Strix really is, and if Fred will write Kim over the summer as promised, tune in! 
> 
> Also, if you really enjoy my fanfic, you could also check out my original work on Amazon! Here's the link:  
> http://www.amazon.com/Desiderium-War-Within-Katherine-Frances/dp/1502845717/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443987397&sr=8-1&keywords=desiderium

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE ABOUT CONTENT: This story is taking place during the time of Harry's 4th year and contains some scenes from Goblet of Fire (though usually quite altered because they are from Kim's POV) However, in these scenes there are some instances of direct quotes used for character dialogue. I did this when Kim's actions wouldn't reasonably change the other characters' dialogue, but she would need to be present for something that was said. I did this to maintain the feelings that the characters ARE JK's character's in how they speak and act, and I kind of hope readers will even notice the quotes, if they're a super avid HP fan ;)  
> Furthermore, none of this content could in any way exist without the majestic JK Rowling, trumpets sound in the distance, drum rolls, we all applaud.


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